We all know that in order to fix a problem, we must be willing to admit there is one in the first place. And America, we definitely have a problem. A big one.
On the day, Obama was sworn into office, he spoke directly to the five million Americans who didn’t vote for him and promised he’d be our president too. After hearing that statement, I remember thinking, okay, maybe things won’t be that bad after all. Maybe he wouldn’t turn out to be the radical leftist I thought he‘d be. Well, it turns out I was right and that he lied.
Tell me, was he being our president as he trotted around the globe, bowing down to foreign leaders, and bashing America on the world stage we handed him? Was he being our president as he forced Obama-Care down our throats? Was he being our president as he sided with Mexican President, Felipe Calderon as he launched his all-out, verbal assault on the citizens of Arizona during a joint session of Congress? Was he being our president when he directed his Justice Department to sue Arizona for trying to enforce the immigration laws the feds have ignored for years? I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.
Anyway, with the mid-term elections only four short weeks away, and with his grip on total control slipping away, Obama has decided it is time to rally his base. He’s going to throw a little rally in Washington DC this weekend, on October, 2nd and he’s pulling out all the stops in order to get as many people involved as possible. He’s joined forces with just about every far-left, anti-American, Socialist, Marxist, and Communist organization he could dig up to spread the word.
Besides the usual left-wing organizations. You know, organizations like Planned Parenthood, AFL-CIO, The NAACP, ACLU, and The National Council of La Raza, Obama has aligned himself with others that in my opinion are a little weird for any American president to be involved with www.theblaze.com Organizations like, The Communist Party of America. Democratic Socialists of America, Detroit Socialists of America, The International Socialist Organization, and The New York City Democrat Socialists of America. Isn’t it time we stopped pretending Obama’s not at the very least, a socialist? By aligning himself with these anti-American and Communist groups, Obama has shown us once and for all his true colors. These are the people he’s chosen to stand with.
Obama’s made his choice. Now it’s our turn. We can either start paying attention to what’s going on in our country and fire his corrupt enablers in Congress on November 2nd. We can decide to embrace his ideas and accept the fact that we’re headed down his Socialist path. Or we can just sit on the couch watching American Idol and pretend everything’s okay.
I know exactly where I stand. Now it’s up to you…
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
It's All About Marketing...
It’s all about marketing. First off, when nothing could have been further from the truth, Obama was sold to America and the world as a new kind of leader. His handlers promised us hope and change. They said he’d be a new kind of leader. One who could rise above petty political bipartisanship that had become the norm. He was sold as a man who would change the way things were done in Washington. Yep, marketing plain and simple.
Instead of terrorism, he brought us “man-made disasters.” We went from the “war on terror” to an “overseas contingency operation.” See how that works? Pretty cool, huh?
And now because of the fact that “global-cooling” from the 60’s and 70’s didn’t get the results the eco extremists were looking for they started calling it “global-warming.” That didn’t pan out so it was changed to “climate-change” and still not enough people fell for the doom and gloom they were selling, so they’ve decided to try it one more time.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I’d like to introduce you to the latest and greatest, extremist, marketing ploy. Welcome to the world of, “Global Climate Disruption,”
Yep, Obama, you know, they guy who’s lied to us ever since he came on the scene a couple years ago wants the public to start using the term every chance we get. Evidently he believes the new term, “Global Climate Disruption” will better suit his extreme views and better his chances to pass his coveted “Cap and Tax” redistribution scheme.
Man, this hope and change marketing strategy just keeps getting better…
Kevin McGinty
Instead of terrorism, he brought us “man-made disasters.” We went from the “war on terror” to an “overseas contingency operation.” See how that works? Pretty cool, huh?
And now because of the fact that “global-cooling” from the 60’s and 70’s didn’t get the results the eco extremists were looking for they started calling it “global-warming.” That didn’t pan out so it was changed to “climate-change” and still not enough people fell for the doom and gloom they were selling, so they’ve decided to try it one more time.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I’d like to introduce you to the latest and greatest, extremist, marketing ploy. Welcome to the world of, “Global Climate Disruption,”
Yep, Obama, you know, they guy who’s lied to us ever since he came on the scene a couple years ago wants the public to start using the term every chance we get. Evidently he believes the new term, “Global Climate Disruption” will better suit his extreme views and better his chances to pass his coveted “Cap and Tax” redistribution scheme.
Man, this hope and change marketing strategy just keeps getting better…
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Priceless...
Yeah I know. Yesterday I promised I’d write about Sharia Law today. But really, other than fanning the flames of an already over-heated issue, what purpose would it serve? Nothing. I’ve already made my case as to why I oppose the proposed Mosque in New York and I have no intentions of backing off anything I said either.
That being said, I still live in the real world. And in the real world we all know that Muslims have the right to build their Mosque anywhere they want. That was never even in question. And since this is the real world, I know the that more than likely this Mosque will eventually be built. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. And whether you left-wing loons like it or not, I have the right to say so.
It‘s not a total loss though. Two very important things have happened since this fight erupted last weekend.
First, the left-wing lunatics in this country have apparently found God. How else can you explain why all the sudden they’re so damned passionate about the whole “Freedom of Religion” thing?
And secondly, with just seventy-some days left to go until November’s Mid-Term elections, by needlessly injecting himself into this fight, Obama has once again acted stupidly. And that my friends is, simply priceless. Predictable but priceless just the same…
Kevin McGinty
That being said, I still live in the real world. And in the real world we all know that Muslims have the right to build their Mosque anywhere they want. That was never even in question. And since this is the real world, I know the that more than likely this Mosque will eventually be built. That doesn’t mean I have to like it. And whether you left-wing loons like it or not, I have the right to say so.
It‘s not a total loss though. Two very important things have happened since this fight erupted last weekend.
First, the left-wing lunatics in this country have apparently found God. How else can you explain why all the sudden they’re so damned passionate about the whole “Freedom of Religion” thing?
And secondly, with just seventy-some days left to go until November’s Mid-Term elections, by needlessly injecting himself into this fight, Obama has once again acted stupidly. And that my friends is, simply priceless. Predictable but priceless just the same…
Kevin McGinty
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
No, I won't Turn The Other Cheek. Not This Time...
The Imam who wants to build his Mosque at the site of the worst terrorist attacks the world has ever seen says it’s to build bridges and bring people together. Well, bud, you’re not exactly getting off to a very good start, now are you?
Here’s the deal. American’s, well, most of us anyway, don’t like being pushed around. And this is just one more thing being shoved down our throats since Obama has been president, and to tell you the truth, we’re sick and tired of it.
It pains me say this, but I did agree with Obama’s first statements when he spoke about Freedom of Religion and about how because of the rights guaranteed in our Constitution, Muslims have just as much right to practice their Religion as the see fit as anybody else. I get that.
But why all the sudden interest in the Constitution? I thought for, Obama, all you democrats, progressives, liberals, and left-wing loons out there, the Constitution was just an out-dated document that has no real meaning in today‘s world. It’s funny but you guys can look at this out-dated document and tell us it means we have no right to say a prayer or recite the pledge of allegiance in our public schools anymore. You can see where it forbids any public display of The Ten Commandments. You can quickly point out where it says we’re not allowed to put up a simple Nativity Scene in a City Park. You use it to remove crosses on hilltops that have been around for fifty or sixty years, bothering no one. You demand we remove any and all crosses from the tombstones of our fallen heroes in Arlington Cemetery. And that list could go on forever and you know it. But now, all the sudden, the exact same document used to stifle any mention any mention of Christianity in public is now being used as a tool to force this Mosque upon us.
Besides, I thought you guys were passionate about the whole “Separation of Church and State” thing. If that’s the case, then why the hell is, The President of The United States even commenting on a religious issue in the first place? I don’t believe speaking on religious issues is part of his job description.
How about this. How about instead of using our Constitution and laws against us to get his way. How about the Imam realize his actions are going to cause a lot of people a lot of pain just by bringing the whole 9-11 thing up again and build his Mosque either at another time or another place? Why can’t he be the understanding and tolerant one for a change?
I promised myself I’d never forget the images I saw and the emotions I felt on the day Muslim Extremists attacked my country and killed 3,000 innocent people who had nothing to do with any of it. It‘s a promise I‘ve kept. I haven’t forgotten and I’m not ready to forgive either. If that makes me a bad person, so be it…
Kevin McGinty
Here’s the deal. American’s, well, most of us anyway, don’t like being pushed around. And this is just one more thing being shoved down our throats since Obama has been president, and to tell you the truth, we’re sick and tired of it.
It pains me say this, but I did agree with Obama’s first statements when he spoke about Freedom of Religion and about how because of the rights guaranteed in our Constitution, Muslims have just as much right to practice their Religion as the see fit as anybody else. I get that.
But why all the sudden interest in the Constitution? I thought for, Obama, all you democrats, progressives, liberals, and left-wing loons out there, the Constitution was just an out-dated document that has no real meaning in today‘s world. It’s funny but you guys can look at this out-dated document and tell us it means we have no right to say a prayer or recite the pledge of allegiance in our public schools anymore. You can see where it forbids any public display of The Ten Commandments. You can quickly point out where it says we’re not allowed to put up a simple Nativity Scene in a City Park. You use it to remove crosses on hilltops that have been around for fifty or sixty years, bothering no one. You demand we remove any and all crosses from the tombstones of our fallen heroes in Arlington Cemetery. And that list could go on forever and you know it. But now, all the sudden, the exact same document used to stifle any mention any mention of Christianity in public is now being used as a tool to force this Mosque upon us.
Besides, I thought you guys were passionate about the whole “Separation of Church and State” thing. If that’s the case, then why the hell is, The President of The United States even commenting on a religious issue in the first place? I don’t believe speaking on religious issues is part of his job description.
How about this. How about instead of using our Constitution and laws against us to get his way. How about the Imam realize his actions are going to cause a lot of people a lot of pain just by bringing the whole 9-11 thing up again and build his Mosque either at another time or another place? Why can’t he be the understanding and tolerant one for a change?
I promised myself I’d never forget the images I saw and the emotions I felt on the day Muslim Extremists attacked my country and killed 3,000 innocent people who had nothing to do with any of it. It‘s a promise I‘ve kept. I haven’t forgotten and I’m not ready to forgive either. If that makes me a bad person, so be it…
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Potholes and Loopholes...
Last year the City, and all those really smart people down at the Chamber of Commerce told us that a vote in favor of the tax increase they were proposing was in fact, a vote for the future of Topeka. They told us it was the only way the city could afford to fix the streets that had been allowed to deteriorate to the point of almost no return.
No, I don’t blame those of you who bought into the whole “Save the Streets” campaign they were selling. We’d all been dodging Topeka’s now famous potholes for what seemed like forever. The stories of ruined tires, broken wheels, and visits to local alignment shops were out there everywhere. Enough of you believed in them and trusted that they’d do the right thing, so you voted the way you did. But I do have to ask one question to ask. How’s that working out for you?
Evidently, City Manager, Norton Bonaparte and Mayor, Bill Bunten have decided the promise to fix the streets wasn’t actually a promise to fill the potholes that have become an embarrassment to all of us who call Topeka home. Now they’re claiming the vote was one in favor of major infrastructure projects and was never intended to include the car swallowing potholes that cover almost every major street in this city. Whatever.
Mr. Mayor, I realize my opinion probably isn‘t all that important to you, but just the same, I’m going to throw it out there anyway, because, well, that‘s what I do. Anyway, you really need to stop and listen to someone besides, Jeff Preisner, and Norton Bonaparte for a change. And I really don’t care to hear any more about the way you and your crew interpret what the voters were voting on either. You haven’t found some magic loophole that’s going to allow you to renege on the promises you made. It’s time to drop the charade.
Mr. Mayor, do you remember how badly you beat your opponent, Jeff Preisner in the last election? Have you ever wondered why so many people supported you over him? It’s pretty simple really, it was because we trusted you. We trusted that you’d do the right thing.
Mr. Mayor, the ball’s in your court. It’s time to stop playing games and prove to us once and for all that that trust wasn’t misplaced…
Kevin McGinty
No, I don’t blame those of you who bought into the whole “Save the Streets” campaign they were selling. We’d all been dodging Topeka’s now famous potholes for what seemed like forever. The stories of ruined tires, broken wheels, and visits to local alignment shops were out there everywhere. Enough of you believed in them and trusted that they’d do the right thing, so you voted the way you did. But I do have to ask one question to ask. How’s that working out for you?
Evidently, City Manager, Norton Bonaparte and Mayor, Bill Bunten have decided the promise to fix the streets wasn’t actually a promise to fill the potholes that have become an embarrassment to all of us who call Topeka home. Now they’re claiming the vote was one in favor of major infrastructure projects and was never intended to include the car swallowing potholes that cover almost every major street in this city. Whatever.
Mr. Mayor, I realize my opinion probably isn‘t all that important to you, but just the same, I’m going to throw it out there anyway, because, well, that‘s what I do. Anyway, you really need to stop and listen to someone besides, Jeff Preisner, and Norton Bonaparte for a change. And I really don’t care to hear any more about the way you and your crew interpret what the voters were voting on either. You haven’t found some magic loophole that’s going to allow you to renege on the promises you made. It’s time to drop the charade.
Mr. Mayor, do you remember how badly you beat your opponent, Jeff Preisner in the last election? Have you ever wondered why so many people supported you over him? It’s pretty simple really, it was because we trusted you. We trusted that you’d do the right thing.
Mr. Mayor, the ball’s in your court. It’s time to stop playing games and prove to us once and for all that that trust wasn’t misplaced…
Kevin McGinty
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Best of Topeka 2010 Style...
Regardless of the category, I’d like to throw out a well deserved “hell yeah” to all this winners of this year’s, Capital-Journal’s “Best of Topeka” contest. Each and every one of you should be proud of the job you’re doing. Gaining the trust and respect of customers, friends, and associates, especially for consecutive years, doesn’t just happen, it takes hard work and dedication. Ya’ll done good.
But since I spend most of my time hanging around here in the blogs, I’d like to throw out special “hell yeah” to the winners of the “Best Cjonline Blogger” category! What can I say? You guys are all pros and bring so much to the table, it’s no wonder you were chosen the best in this particular category.
Ric Anderson; What can you say about this guy? He puts his quirky and twisted sense of humor out there for all the world to see. I don’t think he’s ever written anything I haven’t enjoyed reading.
Austin Meeks; This guy lives and breathes K-State sports. If there’s anything you want to know about K-State, Austin’s the guy.
Tim Hrenchir; A professional in all aspects of what he does. When Tim speaks, people listen.
Jim Cates; Anybody who’s known me for any length of time, knows Jim and I have been good friends for many years now. I’ve always valued his opinion as well as his knowledge and insight. And I’ve always appreciated his support and encouragement in this whole writing thing. So if you hate the things I write about, you now the truth. It’s Jim’s fault. But Jim hasn’t posted a blog since February and now the people have spoken. It’s time he got back into the game.
Brent Whitten; Ah, what a story he told. Mostly I remember his wife, Rachel’s column she used to write for The Capital-Journal. She told us stories of life. Stories we could all relate to. She told us about her soldier husband being injured in a bombing by a suicide attacker as he and his unit were out patrolling in their humvee. And I remember being truly disappointed the day I read her “Goodbye and Thanks” column. Yeah, their’s was a wonderful story back in 2006.
And Bill Blankenship; Another professional, and no doubt about it, he deserves his spot among the best of the. Funny thing is though, I couldn’t remember ever seen his blog and really wanted to hear what he had to say. I clicked my way through old blogs back to April of this year only to come up short. Then I tried what I should have done in the first place. I found his “profile page.” http://cjonline.com/user/bill_blankenship That’s when I found out Bill Blankenship’s never even set up a blog. How weird is that?
Sorry Ric, but I gotta call bullshit here. But hey, we both know it’s your world and I’m just passing through. Besides in a hundred years, it won’t matter anyway. Do me a favor though, will you? Would you get them to get my new picture (Avatar) up and running?
Oh yeah, I noticed you guys avoided a couple of categories this year. You didn’t include The Best Male and Female Radio Personalities. What’s that all about?
Kevin McGinty
But since I spend most of my time hanging around here in the blogs, I’d like to throw out special “hell yeah” to the winners of the “Best Cjonline Blogger” category! What can I say? You guys are all pros and bring so much to the table, it’s no wonder you were chosen the best in this particular category.
Ric Anderson; What can you say about this guy? He puts his quirky and twisted sense of humor out there for all the world to see. I don’t think he’s ever written anything I haven’t enjoyed reading.
Austin Meeks; This guy lives and breathes K-State sports. If there’s anything you want to know about K-State, Austin’s the guy.
Tim Hrenchir; A professional in all aspects of what he does. When Tim speaks, people listen.
Jim Cates; Anybody who’s known me for any length of time, knows Jim and I have been good friends for many years now. I’ve always valued his opinion as well as his knowledge and insight. And I’ve always appreciated his support and encouragement in this whole writing thing. So if you hate the things I write about, you now the truth. It’s Jim’s fault. But Jim hasn’t posted a blog since February and now the people have spoken. It’s time he got back into the game.
Brent Whitten; Ah, what a story he told. Mostly I remember his wife, Rachel’s column she used to write for The Capital-Journal. She told us stories of life. Stories we could all relate to. She told us about her soldier husband being injured in a bombing by a suicide attacker as he and his unit were out patrolling in their humvee. And I remember being truly disappointed the day I read her “Goodbye and Thanks” column. Yeah, their’s was a wonderful story back in 2006.
And Bill Blankenship; Another professional, and no doubt about it, he deserves his spot among the best of the. Funny thing is though, I couldn’t remember ever seen his blog and really wanted to hear what he had to say. I clicked my way through old blogs back to April of this year only to come up short. Then I tried what I should have done in the first place. I found his “profile page.” http://cjonline.com/user/bill_blankenship That’s when I found out Bill Blankenship’s never even set up a blog. How weird is that?
Sorry Ric, but I gotta call bullshit here. But hey, we both know it’s your world and I’m just passing through. Besides in a hundred years, it won’t matter anyway. Do me a favor though, will you? Would you get them to get my new picture (Avatar) up and running?
Oh yeah, I noticed you guys avoided a couple of categories this year. You didn’t include The Best Male and Female Radio Personalities. What’s that all about?
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
May God Have Mercy On Our Souls...
I love the way the Tiahrt-Moran has turned out. Both camps are in full attack mode. Both sides are doing their very best to make their opponents look like one of the worst people to ever live. Depending on who’s latest attack ad you’re watching, a vote for so and so, is either a vote for the abortion industry or a vote in support of illegals and terrorists who want to destroy this country. A vote for my opponent would be a vote against all of humanity, and may God have mercy on our souls. Whatever.
I have no idea who’ll be the last man standing in this stupid fight. But it’ll be awesome to watch the loser to turn right around and try to convince us the victor in this mess is one of the best men who’s ever lived and is the only person capable of saving the world when it comes time for the general election in November.
You gotta love those politicians…
Kevin McGinty
I have no idea who’ll be the last man standing in this stupid fight. But it’ll be awesome to watch the loser to turn right around and try to convince us the victor in this mess is one of the best men who’s ever lived and is the only person capable of saving the world when it comes time for the general election in November.
You gotta love those politicians…
Kevin McGinty
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
How's This Thing End???
It just keeps coming. Eric Holder let it be known the Black Panthers could do as they pleased. And now the NAACP passed a resolution condemning the Tea Party for racism. They demanded that the leaders of the movement renounce the racist elements among their ranks. Wow!
And this is right on the heels of the whole Black Panther voter intimidation thing. It’s funny how they claim racism and violent extremists but have very little to back up the charges. But on the other hand, we have video proof of a man who calls himself, King Samir Shabazz, a Black Panther member who calls for the killing of “Crackers” and “Cracker Babies,” intimidating voters outside a polling station in Philadelphia, and it doesn’t even deserve a mention. Weird, huh?
Evidently the Tea Party ( white people) have all been officially labeled racists while the Black Panthers are given a pass. Why isn’t the NAACP renouncing the racists elements in their own ranks?
So now we have the leader of the Black Panther Party, Malik Zulu Shabazz threatening to have a presence at future Tea Party rallies, you know, just to keep an eye on things. Yeah, that’s a great idea. How long before the KKK, skinheads, and every other wacko, extremist group out there decides to get in the game?
Then what? Are we going back to the days of race riots? Back to the days when we all hated each other? Back to the days when the National Guard was called upon to stand against our own citizens? Why? What’s the point?
Remember the day Obama stood with Mexican President Calerone as he condemned Arizona for simply trying to enforce the exact same immigration laws Obama should have been enforcing all along. Remember how every Democrat present gave Calderone a standing ovation when he finished condemning the very citizens each and every one of them had sworn to defend? I do.
Here’s the deal. We’re all being used like pawns on a giant chess board. They’re stirring up hatred and racial tensions for a reason. They’re turning us against each other. But why? Whether we want to admit it or not, we’re all being sucked into the hate. Just look at the way some of us treat each other on this blog. How’s this going to play out? What’s this country going to look like in ten year? Just asking.
Oh, and for the record, this will probably be the last time I attempt to write about race and racism. I know it’s a fight I can’t win. But hey, I had to give it one last shot…
Kevin McGinty
And this is right on the heels of the whole Black Panther voter intimidation thing. It’s funny how they claim racism and violent extremists but have very little to back up the charges. But on the other hand, we have video proof of a man who calls himself, King Samir Shabazz, a Black Panther member who calls for the killing of “Crackers” and “Cracker Babies,” intimidating voters outside a polling station in Philadelphia, and it doesn’t even deserve a mention. Weird, huh?
Evidently the Tea Party ( white people) have all been officially labeled racists while the Black Panthers are given a pass. Why isn’t the NAACP renouncing the racists elements in their own ranks?
So now we have the leader of the Black Panther Party, Malik Zulu Shabazz threatening to have a presence at future Tea Party rallies, you know, just to keep an eye on things. Yeah, that’s a great idea. How long before the KKK, skinheads, and every other wacko, extremist group out there decides to get in the game?
Then what? Are we going back to the days of race riots? Back to the days when we all hated each other? Back to the days when the National Guard was called upon to stand against our own citizens? Why? What’s the point?
Remember the day Obama stood with Mexican President Calerone as he condemned Arizona for simply trying to enforce the exact same immigration laws Obama should have been enforcing all along. Remember how every Democrat present gave Calderone a standing ovation when he finished condemning the very citizens each and every one of them had sworn to defend? I do.
Here’s the deal. We’re all being used like pawns on a giant chess board. They’re stirring up hatred and racial tensions for a reason. They’re turning us against each other. But why? Whether we want to admit it or not, we’re all being sucked into the hate. Just look at the way some of us treat each other on this blog. How’s this going to play out? What’s this country going to look like in ten year? Just asking.
Oh, and for the record, this will probably be the last time I attempt to write about race and racism. I know it’s a fight I can’t win. But hey, I had to give it one last shot…
Kevin McGinty
Friday, July 9, 2010
Ignorance of History? Probably...
“Like you, Kevin, I resent being called a racist because of my political party affiliation or my political opinions. If MrWednesdaynight (MWN) is correct and you’re doing the same thing to Obama, then it’s just part of getting sidetracked by a non-issue.”
Point taken, Fred and maybe MWN has a point. And so did Mick. He kind of jumped right in there, slapped me around, and in the process he made an excellent argument. I respect that.
Alright, so I chose my words poorly. Sorry. Calling Obama the most racist and divisive president ever was probably over the top. I’m not even real sure why I wrote about the subject of race in the first place. Well, I do know and I’ll get to that in a minute. But it’s a no win topic, no matter who’s talking about it.
Let’s just drop all the other stuff and talk about the Black Panther voter intimidation case. That’s what really set me off in the first place and what led me to write this in the first place.
Until people in this country can be honest about what happened at that polling station in Philly, we’re never going to get anywhere. You’ve seen the videos. You’ve seen the man who calls himself King Samir Shabazz screaming into his microphone to anyone who’ll listen how much he hates crackers (white people) and calling on blacks to kill crackers and their cracker babies. And you’ve seen this exact same man wielding a night stick and his Black Panther brother standing guard standing outside this polling station. There’s no question as to what they were doing there. But for some reason people refuse to see it. MWN refers to them simply as a couple of dudes with glow sticks. Nimper wants to ignore it all together by pointing out real voter intimidation in the Jim Crow South. Whatever.
And now, Obama and his Justice Department have sided with the guy who calls for cracker babies to be killed.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this isn’t about racism after all. Maybe it’s all about pay back. You know, pay back for things that happened before anyone living today was even born. Yeah, that makes sense…
Kevin McGinty
Point taken, Fred and maybe MWN has a point. And so did Mick. He kind of jumped right in there, slapped me around, and in the process he made an excellent argument. I respect that.
Alright, so I chose my words poorly. Sorry. Calling Obama the most racist and divisive president ever was probably over the top. I’m not even real sure why I wrote about the subject of race in the first place. Well, I do know and I’ll get to that in a minute. But it’s a no win topic, no matter who’s talking about it.
Let’s just drop all the other stuff and talk about the Black Panther voter intimidation case. That’s what really set me off in the first place and what led me to write this in the first place.
Until people in this country can be honest about what happened at that polling station in Philly, we’re never going to get anywhere. You’ve seen the videos. You’ve seen the man who calls himself King Samir Shabazz screaming into his microphone to anyone who’ll listen how much he hates crackers (white people) and calling on blacks to kill crackers and their cracker babies. And you’ve seen this exact same man wielding a night stick and his Black Panther brother standing guard standing outside this polling station. There’s no question as to what they were doing there. But for some reason people refuse to see it. MWN refers to them simply as a couple of dudes with glow sticks. Nimper wants to ignore it all together by pointing out real voter intimidation in the Jim Crow South. Whatever.
And now, Obama and his Justice Department have sided with the guy who calls for cracker babies to be killed.
Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this isn’t about racism after all. Maybe it’s all about pay back. You know, pay back for things that happened before anyone living today was even born. Yeah, that makes sense…
Kevin McGinty
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Who's The Racist???
Remember back when I ran the “Obama as the Joker” avatar? It took about thirty seconds from the time I first posted it till I was automatically and permanently branded a racist by some of my fellow bloggers. Yeah, thirty seconds. Evidently enough of you complained enough to Ric Anderson that the following week he deemed it inappropriate for Cjonline and removed it. I expected that.
I have a question today for those who were so quick to label me a racist: How much longer are you going to pretend that Obama isn’t the biggest racist and most divisive president we’ve ever had?
You refused to even consider it when it was revealed that for twenty years your guy sat in the church of one of the biggest American-hating, racist preachers out there, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. You unconditionally believed him when he claimed he’d never been present during any of the Reverends more objectionable sermons. Whatever.
You didn’t even bat an eye when he told the story of him grandmother being scared at the idea of being followed by two black men. He described her as a “typical white person.” And you believed him when he claimed “the police acted stupidly” when he automatically sided with the black professor over the white Cambridge police officer, admittedly without even knowing the facts of the case.
Are you going to simply dismiss the testimony of J. Christian Adams, an ex-Justice Department official who quit over the handling of the Black Panther voter intimidation case? He testified under oath that he quit his post because his department had been ordered by his former boss, Eric Holder, who gets his orders from his boss, Obama to drop all charges in the case even though it was an open and shut case that had already been won? I suppose he was lying when he also testified he was ordered to ignore cases that involved black defendants and white victims.
Are you willing to take an honest look at Obama’s actions and judge him accordingly or are you going to continue to live in the make believe world of denial?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFpfQpuuVzI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw_RKFB1z9E&feature=related
Kevin McGinty
I have a question today for those who were so quick to label me a racist: How much longer are you going to pretend that Obama isn’t the biggest racist and most divisive president we’ve ever had?
You refused to even consider it when it was revealed that for twenty years your guy sat in the church of one of the biggest American-hating, racist preachers out there, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. You unconditionally believed him when he claimed he’d never been present during any of the Reverends more objectionable sermons. Whatever.
You didn’t even bat an eye when he told the story of him grandmother being scared at the idea of being followed by two black men. He described her as a “typical white person.” And you believed him when he claimed “the police acted stupidly” when he automatically sided with the black professor over the white Cambridge police officer, admittedly without even knowing the facts of the case.
Are you going to simply dismiss the testimony of J. Christian Adams, an ex-Justice Department official who quit over the handling of the Black Panther voter intimidation case? He testified under oath that he quit his post because his department had been ordered by his former boss, Eric Holder, who gets his orders from his boss, Obama to drop all charges in the case even though it was an open and shut case that had already been won? I suppose he was lying when he also testified he was ordered to ignore cases that involved black defendants and white victims.
Are you willing to take an honest look at Obama’s actions and judge him accordingly or are you going to continue to live in the make believe world of denial?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFpfQpuuVzI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw_RKFB1z9E&feature=related
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
TicToc...
Iran said Tuesday it would send a blockade-busting ship carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists to Gaza. And Lebanon has sent a letter to the U. N. holding Israel responsible for any attack on the ship.
Let me guess. Just another innocent humanitarian aid ship loaded with life saving supplies for the good people of Gaza who just happen to be governed by a peace-loving organization called Hamas, right? Give me a break.
I know a lot of you out there hate Israel, and you have your reasons. But in my opinion, this latest threat takes it to a whole new, very dangerous level.
Are you willing to stand with Iran against Israel knowing full well there’s hardly, any way, anything good can possibly come of it? Are you willing to stand with the insane Iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, who’s repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel? The same one who denies the Holocaust ever happened. Are you willing to go that far?
Are you willing to stand with him knowing full well his country’s actions could easily provoke a war that would surely engulf the entire region? How long do think it would take before we were drug into it? Probably not much more than a few days. Yeah, we’d be right in the middle of it alright. But because of politics, I’m not sure who we’d be fighting for.
I believe that in a matter of weeks, Obama will be forced to show his hand regarding Israel. Will he defend them or stay out of it and let them be destroyed by the enemies who surround them.
The countdown clock has started, tic toc…
Kevin McGinty
Let me guess. Just another innocent humanitarian aid ship loaded with life saving supplies for the good people of Gaza who just happen to be governed by a peace-loving organization called Hamas, right? Give me a break.
I know a lot of you out there hate Israel, and you have your reasons. But in my opinion, this latest threat takes it to a whole new, very dangerous level.
Are you willing to stand with Iran against Israel knowing full well there’s hardly, any way, anything good can possibly come of it? Are you willing to stand with the insane Iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, who’s repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel? The same one who denies the Holocaust ever happened. Are you willing to go that far?
Are you willing to stand with him knowing full well his country’s actions could easily provoke a war that would surely engulf the entire region? How long do think it would take before we were drug into it? Probably not much more than a few days. Yeah, we’d be right in the middle of it alright. But because of politics, I’m not sure who we’d be fighting for.
I believe that in a matter of weeks, Obama will be forced to show his hand regarding Israel. Will he defend them or stay out of it and let them be destroyed by the enemies who surround them.
The countdown clock has started, tic toc…
Kevin McGinty
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Operation Wetback...
Alright, one last time and I’ll get off the immigration stuff. I’d like to talk a little bit about another email I received yesterday. By now most of you have probably seen it. It’s the one that asks, what do President’s, Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman, and Dwight D. Eisenhower have in common?
Turns out that between the three of them, they deported something like 16 million illegal immigrants in order to provide jobs for American citizens. I suppose the mass-deportation crowd is trying to use this message as proof that it can be done. Yeah, they did it alright. But damn!
Google, Mexican Repatriation and Operation Wetback and see what you come up with. Since nobody’s really talking about it, I’m not sure that if I were trying to convince the American people the only way to fix the problem is to deport all illegals, I’d really want to bring any of this up.
I’m not sure I’d want to call attention to the fact that the Mexican Repatriation (yes, this is straight out of Wikipedia) refers to the forced migration that took place between 1929 and 1939, when as many as 1 million people of Mexican descent were forced or otherwise pressured to leave the U.S. It’s estimated that up to 60% of those driven out were U.S. citizens. And the event was carried out by American authorities and took place without any kind of due process.
Operation Wetback was carried out in 1954 by the Eisenhower administration in order to make jobs available to vets returning from WW11 and Korea. Just makes sense, right?
The effort began (yes, this one’s straight out of Wikipedia too) in California and Arizona. Tactics included going as far as systematic police sweeps of Mexican-American neighborhoods and random ID check points of “Mexican-looking” people. Some 750 agents targeted agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions per day.
Yeah, I suppose if the emailer’s intent was to prove that mass-deportation is possible, he accomplished that. But it also proves that the people like our very own, mrwednesdaynight and nimper, you know the one’s out there jumping up and down and yelling about “civil rights” are right too.
And damn, I hate it when that happens…
Kevin McGinty
Turns out that between the three of them, they deported something like 16 million illegal immigrants in order to provide jobs for American citizens. I suppose the mass-deportation crowd is trying to use this message as proof that it can be done. Yeah, they did it alright. But damn!
Google, Mexican Repatriation and Operation Wetback and see what you come up with. Since nobody’s really talking about it, I’m not sure that if I were trying to convince the American people the only way to fix the problem is to deport all illegals, I’d really want to bring any of this up.
I’m not sure I’d want to call attention to the fact that the Mexican Repatriation (yes, this is straight out of Wikipedia) refers to the forced migration that took place between 1929 and 1939, when as many as 1 million people of Mexican descent were forced or otherwise pressured to leave the U.S. It’s estimated that up to 60% of those driven out were U.S. citizens. And the event was carried out by American authorities and took place without any kind of due process.
Operation Wetback was carried out in 1954 by the Eisenhower administration in order to make jobs available to vets returning from WW11 and Korea. Just makes sense, right?
The effort began (yes, this one’s straight out of Wikipedia too) in California and Arizona. Tactics included going as far as systematic police sweeps of Mexican-American neighborhoods and random ID check points of “Mexican-looking” people. Some 750 agents targeted agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions per day.
Yeah, I suppose if the emailer’s intent was to prove that mass-deportation is possible, he accomplished that. But it also proves that the people like our very own, mrwednesdaynight and nimper, you know the one’s out there jumping up and down and yelling about “civil rights” are right too.
And damn, I hate it when that happens…
Kevin McGinty
Friday, May 14, 2010
"But"...
Depending on who’s telling the story, we have somewhere between 12 and 20 million illegal immigrants living in America today with 465,000 or so in Arizona alone. How much higher must those numbers climb before we quit pretending it’s not a problem?
They say we have around 75,000 illegal immigrants currently detained in our Federal prison system. Again, how much higher must that number climb before someone finally has enough common sense and say, this is ridiculous? There’s no reason for it.
I haven’t seen a study on it, but common sense should tell us that way too many local, county, and state, jail and court systems, especially in the south-western states, are overwhelmed by cases brought on by illegal immigrants. At least that seems to be the case in Arizona.
What are they supposed to do? How many more rapists, murders, and thugs in general should Arizona be forced to let in? How many more drug related kidnappings should they have to deal with? How many more armed robberies? How many more violent gang members (M 13) do you think Arizona needs? How many more cops and land owners need to be gunned down before it’s okay to do something about it?
How many more terrorists should be allowed to come in through South America, work their way up through Mexico, and simply walk across our southern border? Yeah I know, that’s just crazy talk, right? Is It? You know that for a fact, right? Think about it. Right after the attacks of 9-11, the first thing we did was to tighten up security at our airports. It didn’t make it impossible to sneak a terrorist in that way but it did make things harder. You can say what you want about the terrorist organizations who want to do us harm, but you can’t say they’re stupid. If they can’t get in through the front door, they’ll just come in through the back door which everybody in the world know, is wide open.
No guys, this isn’t about racism. It’s not about hating someone simply because they come from somewhere else. It’s not about denying someone the chance to come here in order to provide a better way of life for their families either. Those are the people we want. Since we all came here from somewhere else, these people are no different than we are and we should do everything we can to make room for them, period.
What’s at stake here is public safety and our national security. We can either do something about it. Or we can do like we’ve been doing all along and pretend it’s not a problem…
Kevin McGinty
They say we have around 75,000 illegal immigrants currently detained in our Federal prison system. Again, how much higher must that number climb before someone finally has enough common sense and say, this is ridiculous? There’s no reason for it.
I haven’t seen a study on it, but common sense should tell us that way too many local, county, and state, jail and court systems, especially in the south-western states, are overwhelmed by cases brought on by illegal immigrants. At least that seems to be the case in Arizona.
What are they supposed to do? How many more rapists, murders, and thugs in general should Arizona be forced to let in? How many more drug related kidnappings should they have to deal with? How many more armed robberies? How many more violent gang members (M 13) do you think Arizona needs? How many more cops and land owners need to be gunned down before it’s okay to do something about it?
How many more terrorists should be allowed to come in through South America, work their way up through Mexico, and simply walk across our southern border? Yeah I know, that’s just crazy talk, right? Is It? You know that for a fact, right? Think about it. Right after the attacks of 9-11, the first thing we did was to tighten up security at our airports. It didn’t make it impossible to sneak a terrorist in that way but it did make things harder. You can say what you want about the terrorist organizations who want to do us harm, but you can’t say they’re stupid. If they can’t get in through the front door, they’ll just come in through the back door which everybody in the world know, is wide open.
No guys, this isn’t about racism. It’s not about hating someone simply because they come from somewhere else. It’s not about denying someone the chance to come here in order to provide a better way of life for their families either. Those are the people we want. Since we all came here from somewhere else, these people are no different than we are and we should do everything we can to make room for them, period.
What’s at stake here is public safety and our national security. We can either do something about it. Or we can do like we’ve been doing all along and pretend it’s not a problem…
Kevin McGinty
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Coming To America...
I’ve been trying to figure out a way to write about the new Arizona Immigration Bill that was just recently signed into law without coming across as a raging racist. Some of you’ll hear me out and some of you will call me a racist no matter what I have to say. So, good or bad, right or wrong, I might as well jump right in there.
Unless you’re a Native American, and they’re the one’s who really got screwed. But all the rest of us are here in this country as a direct result of immigration of some form or another. Immigration is how this country was built in the first place.
Me, I’m the sixth generation descendent of an Irish immigrant named, Bernard McGinty. Other than names and dates, I really don’t know his story. I don’t know why he was willing to risk literally everything to move his family to America. Hell, for all I know, he might have been running from the law. I suspect though, like thousands of other Irish immigrants of his time, he was escaping the punishing poverty and sickness that had become so widespread and common in Ireland.
I can’t help but wonder how he’d feel about the way his family turned out. Like any really big family, we’ve had our share of problems. It’s turned into a family made up of people from, literally, all over the world. We’re made up of people from every political and religious point of view imaginable. Most of us just have regular every day jobs and try to raise our families the best we can. We have at least two Airline Pilots, one doctor, and three registered nurses that I know of. A lawyer or two. And yeah, some of us just haven’t been able to get it quite right. A few among us have ended up in prison. And if you think that’s not coming out during a fight with your wife, you’re crazy.
We don’t get together as often as we’d like but when we do, it’s always a good time. It’s a good time to relax and just be you. All the sudden, he’s not the “Big Shot” who runs the power company in South Dakota, he’s just uncle Mike to us. If we’re talking about my cousin’s little boy, Daniel, well, he’s just a cool little kid. We all know the story of how they adopted Daniel from Guatemala but really, none of that matters. He’s just Daniel to us. Same thing with Lucy and Aurora, the little twin girls my wife’s brother and his wife adopted a couple years ago from China. They’re just Lucy and Rorey to us. When my loud mouthed, Aaron and his wife show up, it’s just, hey guys, Aaron and Maria are here. It’s not, Aaron and that girl from Mexico he married. You see, none of that matters and it’s really all that important. We’re just a great big, sometimes dysfunctional, family and that’s good enough for us.
No, I don’t know for sure what Bernard McGinty would think of the family he started all those years ago. But I do believe he’d be glad to know the huge gamble he took by bringing his own family to America in the first place paid off. And I think he’d agree that, all things considered, it’s a pretty damn fine family.
So yeah, I know a thing or two about immigration and understand what it means to someone wanting to come here. I get it.
But…
Kevin McGinty
Unless you’re a Native American, and they’re the one’s who really got screwed. But all the rest of us are here in this country as a direct result of immigration of some form or another. Immigration is how this country was built in the first place.
Me, I’m the sixth generation descendent of an Irish immigrant named, Bernard McGinty. Other than names and dates, I really don’t know his story. I don’t know why he was willing to risk literally everything to move his family to America. Hell, for all I know, he might have been running from the law. I suspect though, like thousands of other Irish immigrants of his time, he was escaping the punishing poverty and sickness that had become so widespread and common in Ireland.
I can’t help but wonder how he’d feel about the way his family turned out. Like any really big family, we’ve had our share of problems. It’s turned into a family made up of people from, literally, all over the world. We’re made up of people from every political and religious point of view imaginable. Most of us just have regular every day jobs and try to raise our families the best we can. We have at least two Airline Pilots, one doctor, and three registered nurses that I know of. A lawyer or two. And yeah, some of us just haven’t been able to get it quite right. A few among us have ended up in prison. And if you think that’s not coming out during a fight with your wife, you’re crazy.
We don’t get together as often as we’d like but when we do, it’s always a good time. It’s a good time to relax and just be you. All the sudden, he’s not the “Big Shot” who runs the power company in South Dakota, he’s just uncle Mike to us. If we’re talking about my cousin’s little boy, Daniel, well, he’s just a cool little kid. We all know the story of how they adopted Daniel from Guatemala but really, none of that matters. He’s just Daniel to us. Same thing with Lucy and Aurora, the little twin girls my wife’s brother and his wife adopted a couple years ago from China. They’re just Lucy and Rorey to us. When my loud mouthed, Aaron and his wife show up, it’s just, hey guys, Aaron and Maria are here. It’s not, Aaron and that girl from Mexico he married. You see, none of that matters and it’s really all that important. We’re just a great big, sometimes dysfunctional, family and that’s good enough for us.
No, I don’t know for sure what Bernard McGinty would think of the family he started all those years ago. But I do believe he’d be glad to know the huge gamble he took by bringing his own family to America in the first place paid off. And I think he’d agree that, all things considered, it’s a pretty damn fine family.
So yeah, I know a thing or two about immigration and understand what it means to someone wanting to come here. I get it.
But…
Kevin McGinty
Monday, April 26, 2010
Remember What's Really Important...
For a change, this week anyway, I’m going to step away from all the stupid political fighting. Besides, does it really matter who’s running the government? Hell, both party’s have been screwing this country over for as long as I can remember. And to tell you the truth, right now, I have more important things to worry about.
I’ve never really talked about it here, but because of my job I travel a lot. In the last three weeks my travels have taken me to Western Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota. I don’t worry too much about things when I’m gone. My wife’s brutally independent and does a good job of taking care of things while I’m gone. My kids are all grown and doing their own thing. And I suppose like most of people, I take it for granted that everything’s always going to be okay.
Well, I got a phone call the other day that reminded of just how stupid that way of thinking is and how in a blink of an eye everything can change forever. I’m not going to get into details but the call had to do with one of my kids and it scared the hell out of me. For now anyway, everything’s okay but the whole thing reminded me of another time about three years ago when I received one of those life changing phone calls.
So if you don’t mind, I’d like to share that story with you today. It’s a story about my young grand daughter, Emily. It just happened to be the first story I wrote for “The Topeka Metro News” and it helps explain where the title of this blog, “Room 235” came from in the first place. I call the story, “The numbers.”
The Numbers:
Numbers, do you ever think about them? Personally, I've never given them much thought one way or the other. But over the course of the last 23 days I've learned numbers can literally mean the difference between life and death.
Numbers like 17, 235, 15,12, 160, 87, 65/45, and 23 all became to mean everything in my granddaughter's world. Emily was born 17 weeks premature on November 12th. and was transferred to “Room 235” of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center. This was the day my journey through her world of numbers began.
Good morning Emily, I'm your grandpa. I know, I'm probably a little scary looking but you'll get used to me. Hey, look at those numbers on the ventilator. The nurses tell me 15 is excellent for your oxygen level. And that the vent setting doesn't get much better than a 12. I know it's been a pretty rough first day for you, so I'm not going to stay too long. You be a good girl and mind the nurses, I'll see you in the morning. And remember that grandpa loves you.
And so our daily routine began. We talked about the adventures we were going to have once she got to come home. First and foremost I explained she was going to have to put on some weight. At 1lb., 4oz., it was going to be hard for her to ride a bike. I offered to start bringing her chocolate chip cookies and pop. Emily and I both thought it was a good idea, but the nurses had other plans. We talked about her first day of school, about the fishing trips we were going to take, and about going 4-wheeling in the mountains when we go to Colorado in August.
I told her how lucky she was to have two grandmothers, Linda and Debbie that loved her so much. We talked about her aunts, uncles, and a few of her cousins. I warned her about the stupid cats and dogs she'd meet. I even warned her about staying away from boys. I'm not sure, but I think I saw her blushing after this conversation. But mostly, she liked hearing about her mommy and daddy.
Over the course of the next few days I learned about the other numbers on the monitor above her bed. The top one was her heart rate. I learned that 160 was a very good number indeed. And that 87 indicated how much oxygen was in her blood. The 65/45 was the blood pressure.
All day and night long the doctors and nurses watched these numbers. They made adjustments to the machines and medications according to what the numbers told them. They were very up front with us from the beginning. Some days were pretty good. Others were pretty bad, it all depended on the numbers. The nurses referred to this as the roller coaster ride.
Monday December 4th was an exceptionally good day. Her numbers were even better than they had been the previous weekend. She was finally able to open her eyes for the first time. They were the biggest, most beautiful, brown eyes I had ever seen. We talked a little about riding the train at Gage Park. I blew her a kiss, told her grandpa loved her, and promised I'd see her in the morning.
Sometime around 9:00 o clock that night the hospital called. Emily had taken a turn for the worse and we needed to get there as soon as we could. It was the numbers, the 15 and 12 had turned into 101 and 40. The 160 was now a 50. The 87 was somewhere around 35 now, and the blood pressure that once read a steady 65/45 wasn't even registering anymore. They told us her system was shutting down, she was dying, and they didn't think she'd be able to hang on for much more than 3 or 4 more hours.
Ultimately the numbers did get the best of Emily, but she did beat the 3 and the 4. She hung on another 24 hours, and in doing so we were all able to say our goodbyes. I'm not sure what the others said to her. For me though, I just held her tiny little hand, kissed her on the forehead and told her I understood if she had to go. I told her to remember that grandpa loved her, and that no matter what, I’d never forget her.
We had Emily with us for 23 days, 4 hours, and 42 minutes. And for that I'll always be grateful.
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
I’ve never really talked about it here, but because of my job I travel a lot. In the last three weeks my travels have taken me to Western Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota. I don’t worry too much about things when I’m gone. My wife’s brutally independent and does a good job of taking care of things while I’m gone. My kids are all grown and doing their own thing. And I suppose like most of people, I take it for granted that everything’s always going to be okay.
Well, I got a phone call the other day that reminded of just how stupid that way of thinking is and how in a blink of an eye everything can change forever. I’m not going to get into details but the call had to do with one of my kids and it scared the hell out of me. For now anyway, everything’s okay but the whole thing reminded me of another time about three years ago when I received one of those life changing phone calls.
So if you don’t mind, I’d like to share that story with you today. It’s a story about my young grand daughter, Emily. It just happened to be the first story I wrote for “The Topeka Metro News” and it helps explain where the title of this blog, “Room 235” came from in the first place. I call the story, “The numbers.”
The Numbers:
Numbers, do you ever think about them? Personally, I've never given them much thought one way or the other. But over the course of the last 23 days I've learned numbers can literally mean the difference between life and death.
Numbers like 17, 235, 15,12, 160, 87, 65/45, and 23 all became to mean everything in my granddaughter's world. Emily was born 17 weeks premature on November 12th. and was transferred to “Room 235” of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Stormont-Vail Regional Medical Center. This was the day my journey through her world of numbers began.
Good morning Emily, I'm your grandpa. I know, I'm probably a little scary looking but you'll get used to me. Hey, look at those numbers on the ventilator. The nurses tell me 15 is excellent for your oxygen level. And that the vent setting doesn't get much better than a 12. I know it's been a pretty rough first day for you, so I'm not going to stay too long. You be a good girl and mind the nurses, I'll see you in the morning. And remember that grandpa loves you.
And so our daily routine began. We talked about the adventures we were going to have once she got to come home. First and foremost I explained she was going to have to put on some weight. At 1lb., 4oz., it was going to be hard for her to ride a bike. I offered to start bringing her chocolate chip cookies and pop. Emily and I both thought it was a good idea, but the nurses had other plans. We talked about her first day of school, about the fishing trips we were going to take, and about going 4-wheeling in the mountains when we go to Colorado in August.
I told her how lucky she was to have two grandmothers, Linda and Debbie that loved her so much. We talked about her aunts, uncles, and a few of her cousins. I warned her about the stupid cats and dogs she'd meet. I even warned her about staying away from boys. I'm not sure, but I think I saw her blushing after this conversation. But mostly, she liked hearing about her mommy and daddy.
Over the course of the next few days I learned about the other numbers on the monitor above her bed. The top one was her heart rate. I learned that 160 was a very good number indeed. And that 87 indicated how much oxygen was in her blood. The 65/45 was the blood pressure.
All day and night long the doctors and nurses watched these numbers. They made adjustments to the machines and medications according to what the numbers told them. They were very up front with us from the beginning. Some days were pretty good. Others were pretty bad, it all depended on the numbers. The nurses referred to this as the roller coaster ride.
Monday December 4th was an exceptionally good day. Her numbers were even better than they had been the previous weekend. She was finally able to open her eyes for the first time. They were the biggest, most beautiful, brown eyes I had ever seen. We talked a little about riding the train at Gage Park. I blew her a kiss, told her grandpa loved her, and promised I'd see her in the morning.
Sometime around 9:00 o clock that night the hospital called. Emily had taken a turn for the worse and we needed to get there as soon as we could. It was the numbers, the 15 and 12 had turned into 101 and 40. The 160 was now a 50. The 87 was somewhere around 35 now, and the blood pressure that once read a steady 65/45 wasn't even registering anymore. They told us her system was shutting down, she was dying, and they didn't think she'd be able to hang on for much more than 3 or 4 more hours.
Ultimately the numbers did get the best of Emily, but she did beat the 3 and the 4. She hung on another 24 hours, and in doing so we were all able to say our goodbyes. I'm not sure what the others said to her. For me though, I just held her tiny little hand, kissed her on the forehead and told her I understood if she had to go. I told her to remember that grandpa loved her, and that no matter what, I’d never forget her.
We had Emily with us for 23 days, 4 hours, and 42 minutes. And for that I'll always be grateful.
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Welfare State...
Obama just can’t help but being his usual arrogant, condescending self, can he? Did you hear what he said the other day at a Democrat fund raising dinner? He mocked the American people at the Tea Party rallies all across the country and said instead of protesting his tax policies, these people should be thanking him. Thank him for what?
Maybe he expects us to thank him for turning America into the latest in a long line of welfare states? Maybe we’re supposed to thank him for borrowing hundreds of billions more dollars from China and using that money to dole out (buy votes) so many tax breaks to so many people, that for the first time in our history 47% of all Americans don’t have to pay a single dime in federal income taxes. Yeah, thanks, Obama!
They say it’s our patriotic duty to pay taxes and for the most part, I agree. And I don’t mind paying my fair share. But I resent the hell out of being forced to pay so many other people’s fair share as well. I understand that we as a society need to do what we can to help those who can’t help themselves. But there’s a big difference between those who can’t and those who won’t. Besides, they keep raising the bar for what it means to be poor in Obama‘s America.. Evidently, a family of two adults with two kids can make as much as $50,000 a year and still be considered poor. That’s a bunch of crap and you know it.
I know you Obama supporters hate it when anyone has the unheard of nerve to criticize your guy. But hang on to your backsides, boys and girls, his next step is going to be another European style tax. The VAT (Value Added Tax) is coming. It’s coming to pay for the massive entitlements he’s handing out like candy and I can’t wait. Because it’s a tax that everyone, rich and poor alike get to participate in. The funny thing about the VAT tax is that most people won’t even know they’re paying it. All you’ll see is that the price of EVERYTHING has suddenly gone up. It won’t matter though, like everything else, your president will just blame it on Bush and like always, you’ll buy into it. You just can’t bring yourself to admit that the more entitlements he hands out, the more it’s going to cost us. But like it or not, finally we’ll all be participating equally.
And now for our very own Governor, Mark Parkinson and the Kansas lawmakers. Why don’t you quit playing it politically safe for a change by singling out smokers and fast food restaurants (sin tax) to balance your stinking budget? You know as well as any of us this sin tax crap isn’t going raise enough revenue to get the job done. Why don’t you quit your talking and grandstanding, show some guts for a change, and pass another sales tax increase or whatever other ways you can think of to swindle us out of more of our paychecks and spread the pain around evenly. Oh yeah, I forgot. The polls indicate that would hurt you chances come reelection time, and at the end of the day, that’s the only thing that really matters to any of you.
Like I said. I don’t mind paying my fair share. But more and more of us are getting sick and tired of paying everyone else’s fair share too…
Kevin McGinty
Maybe he expects us to thank him for turning America into the latest in a long line of welfare states? Maybe we’re supposed to thank him for borrowing hundreds of billions more dollars from China and using that money to dole out (buy votes) so many tax breaks to so many people, that for the first time in our history 47% of all Americans don’t have to pay a single dime in federal income taxes. Yeah, thanks, Obama!
They say it’s our patriotic duty to pay taxes and for the most part, I agree. And I don’t mind paying my fair share. But I resent the hell out of being forced to pay so many other people’s fair share as well. I understand that we as a society need to do what we can to help those who can’t help themselves. But there’s a big difference between those who can’t and those who won’t. Besides, they keep raising the bar for what it means to be poor in Obama‘s America.. Evidently, a family of two adults with two kids can make as much as $50,000 a year and still be considered poor. That’s a bunch of crap and you know it.
I know you Obama supporters hate it when anyone has the unheard of nerve to criticize your guy. But hang on to your backsides, boys and girls, his next step is going to be another European style tax. The VAT (Value Added Tax) is coming. It’s coming to pay for the massive entitlements he’s handing out like candy and I can’t wait. Because it’s a tax that everyone, rich and poor alike get to participate in. The funny thing about the VAT tax is that most people won’t even know they’re paying it. All you’ll see is that the price of EVERYTHING has suddenly gone up. It won’t matter though, like everything else, your president will just blame it on Bush and like always, you’ll buy into it. You just can’t bring yourself to admit that the more entitlements he hands out, the more it’s going to cost us. But like it or not, finally we’ll all be participating equally.
And now for our very own Governor, Mark Parkinson and the Kansas lawmakers. Why don’t you quit playing it politically safe for a change by singling out smokers and fast food restaurants (sin tax) to balance your stinking budget? You know as well as any of us this sin tax crap isn’t going raise enough revenue to get the job done. Why don’t you quit your talking and grandstanding, show some guts for a change, and pass another sales tax increase or whatever other ways you can think of to swindle us out of more of our paychecks and spread the pain around evenly. Oh yeah, I forgot. The polls indicate that would hurt you chances come reelection time, and at the end of the day, that’s the only thing that really matters to any of you.
Like I said. I don’t mind paying my fair share. But more and more of us are getting sick and tired of paying everyone else’s fair share too…
Kevin McGinty
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Hate-Mongers and Extremists...
The thin-skinned, left-wingers never cease to amaze me. Last week I posted a picture of Obama with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and just like I expected, all hell broke loose. The predictable, worn out, cries of racism were immediate and like always, pointless. First off, there’s nothing racist about smoking a cigarette, and whether you like it or not, your Obama admits he still enjoys a smoke every once in a while. Hell, we all know that, so I’m not sure why you were so offended by it in the first place. And if you want to know the truth, I really don’t care.
Their selective memory is just as amazing too. They twist and turn Sarah Palin’s comment about re-loading into a call for violence. They’d have you believe all those, flag waving old people they love to ridicule from the Tea Party rallies all across the country are all nothing but a bunch of ignorant racists and violent extremists. They act like this is the first time they’ve ever heard of anyone opposing an American President.
So today, just for shits and giggles, let’s talk about the crap this country had to endure from the left during the eight years of the Bush administration.
They constantly whine and cry about Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck for being hate-mongers and inciting violence. Where was that outrage when Air America host, Randi Rhodes recommended doing what Michael Corleone did in the movie, Godfather Part Two, to his brother. She said somebody needs to take Bush fishing and then, with a giggle in her voice, imitated the sound of a gun shot. Just fun and games, right.
How about when British columnist, Charlie Brooker wrote: “John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinkley Jr. where are you when we really need you?” Nothing extreme or violent there.
There were a few novels written like the one by Nicholson Baker’s “Checkpoint” who talked about the wisdom of shooting Bush. At an art exhibit at Chicago’s Columbia University, one exhibit was a giant sheet of postage stamps depicting pictures of Bush on them with a gun pointed at his head. There were even “Kill Bush” T-shirts available from CafePress.com, an online retailer. Ah, those loving left-wing loons.
There were countless examples of anti-Bush protests at Universities all across the country in which Bush was set on fire and hung in effigy. At these protests were signs comparing Bush to every vile dictator in the world. There were signs calling for him to be killed. There were even signs calling for the destruction of his family. Remember those? We do.
The crown jewel of the Bush hatred had to be the movie “Death of a President” by British filmmaker, Gabriel Range. Remember that lovely movie? It was about Bush being shot by a sniper as he left a Chicago hotel. Yeah, nothing like a really good “kill the president movie” to take the kids to.
Let’s see now, how many arrests have been made all across the country during the last year at the Tea Party rallies? Oh yeah, none. How many signs have you seen calling for Obama to be killed? None. How many times have you seen a likeness of Obama being hung or burned to death? None. How many fires been set or how many cars have over turned in the streets during a Tea Party rally? None. You see, this is because that’s how adults do things. And that’s the difference.
So you want to talk about hate-mongers and extremists? Good. But when we have this conversation, do me a favor and leave your selective memory and hypocrisy at home. Thanks…
Kevin McGinty
Their selective memory is just as amazing too. They twist and turn Sarah Palin’s comment about re-loading into a call for violence. They’d have you believe all those, flag waving old people they love to ridicule from the Tea Party rallies all across the country are all nothing but a bunch of ignorant racists and violent extremists. They act like this is the first time they’ve ever heard of anyone opposing an American President.
So today, just for shits and giggles, let’s talk about the crap this country had to endure from the left during the eight years of the Bush administration.
They constantly whine and cry about Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck for being hate-mongers and inciting violence. Where was that outrage when Air America host, Randi Rhodes recommended doing what Michael Corleone did in the movie, Godfather Part Two, to his brother. She said somebody needs to take Bush fishing and then, with a giggle in her voice, imitated the sound of a gun shot. Just fun and games, right.
How about when British columnist, Charlie Brooker wrote: “John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinkley Jr. where are you when we really need you?” Nothing extreme or violent there.
There were a few novels written like the one by Nicholson Baker’s “Checkpoint” who talked about the wisdom of shooting Bush. At an art exhibit at Chicago’s Columbia University, one exhibit was a giant sheet of postage stamps depicting pictures of Bush on them with a gun pointed at his head. There were even “Kill Bush” T-shirts available from CafePress.com, an online retailer. Ah, those loving left-wing loons.
There were countless examples of anti-Bush protests at Universities all across the country in which Bush was set on fire and hung in effigy. At these protests were signs comparing Bush to every vile dictator in the world. There were signs calling for him to be killed. There were even signs calling for the destruction of his family. Remember those? We do.
The crown jewel of the Bush hatred had to be the movie “Death of a President” by British filmmaker, Gabriel Range. Remember that lovely movie? It was about Bush being shot by a sniper as he left a Chicago hotel. Yeah, nothing like a really good “kill the president movie” to take the kids to.
Let’s see now, how many arrests have been made all across the country during the last year at the Tea Party rallies? Oh yeah, none. How many signs have you seen calling for Obama to be killed? None. How many times have you seen a likeness of Obama being hung or burned to death? None. How many fires been set or how many cars have over turned in the streets during a Tea Party rally? None. You see, this is because that’s how adults do things. And that’s the difference.
So you want to talk about hate-mongers and extremists? Good. But when we have this conversation, do me a favor and leave your selective memory and hypocrisy at home. Thanks…
Kevin McGinty
Thursday, April 1, 2010
You're Looking At Your Future...
My God. You Obama lover’s just put on what might end up being the biggest whine-fest this town has ever seen. Yeah, I’m talking about your (over) reaction to the story at www.cjonline.com about the Tea Party Bus coming to town today. And I’d like to be the first to thank you for the entertainment. It was priceless.
It amazes me that you left-wing lunatics have the audacity to call people on the right, racists and hate-mongers. Just go back and re-read some of the vile, racist, hateful things you fools were spewing. All because someone is coming to town you disagree with.
You just don’t get it, do you. You’ve constantly attacked Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and every conservative that comes along. And bar none, they all continue to get bigger and bigger. You’d think you’d be smart enough to try a little different strategy.
I guess I can’t blame you for being upset though. Obama promised to take care of your every need. And now someone comes along that you think threatens that utopian dream and like a bunch of spoiled little kids you over-react. I know, you just can’t help yourselves.
Here’s the deal, libs. The Tea Party is coming. It’s coming whether you continue to spit-up on yourselves or not. And you might as well attend the rally, maybe even try to pay attention to what they have to say. You might even try to embrace it. After all, you will be looking at your future…
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
It amazes me that you left-wing lunatics have the audacity to call people on the right, racists and hate-mongers. Just go back and re-read some of the vile, racist, hateful things you fools were spewing. All because someone is coming to town you disagree with.
You just don’t get it, do you. You’ve constantly attacked Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and every conservative that comes along. And bar none, they all continue to get bigger and bigger. You’d think you’d be smart enough to try a little different strategy.
I guess I can’t blame you for being upset though. Obama promised to take care of your every need. And now someone comes along that you think threatens that utopian dream and like a bunch of spoiled little kids you over-react. I know, you just can’t help yourselves.
Here’s the deal, libs. The Tea Party is coming. It’s coming whether you continue to spit-up on yourselves or not. And you might as well attend the rally, maybe even try to pay attention to what they have to say. You might even try to embrace it. After all, you will be looking at your future…
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Can't Legislate Morality My Ass...
Just for the record. I’m with most of you in opposing the bill that Joe Patton is pushing concerning what is and isn’t allowed in strip clubs. Personally, I think they have a few, more pressing concerns to worry about. And I agree with most of you when you say that if you don’t like what goes on in those places, then don’t go. But when you start chanting the tried and worn out, “we can’t legislate morality” slogan, that’s when you and I part ways.
Of course we can legislate morality. Just about every law in the book is based on morality. Murder is against the law because it’s morally wrong to kill another human being. Holding up the local bank, gas station, or liquor store is against is against the law because it’s morally wrong to steal. Rape is against the law because it’s obviously morally wrong. Polygamy (the practice of having multiple spouses at the same time) is against the law purely because of morality beliefs.
Laws concerning such things as child abuse, kidnapping, assault and battery, domestic battery, arson, prostitution, child pornography, drinking and driving, illegal drug use, the sale of illegal drugs, Sunday liquor sales, and yes, even late-term abortions are all morally based.
So yeah, I think it’s a big waste of time and money for the government to tell how strippers how they can behave in a strip club. But don’t fall for the lie that we can’t legislate morals. We do it all the time…
Kevin McGinty
Of course we can legislate morality. Just about every law in the book is based on morality. Murder is against the law because it’s morally wrong to kill another human being. Holding up the local bank, gas station, or liquor store is against is against the law because it’s morally wrong to steal. Rape is against the law because it’s obviously morally wrong. Polygamy (the practice of having multiple spouses at the same time) is against the law purely because of morality beliefs.
Laws concerning such things as child abuse, kidnapping, assault and battery, domestic battery, arson, prostitution, child pornography, drinking and driving, illegal drug use, the sale of illegal drugs, Sunday liquor sales, and yes, even late-term abortions are all morally based.
So yeah, I think it’s a big waste of time and money for the government to tell how strippers how they can behave in a strip club. But don’t fall for the lie that we can’t legislate morals. We do it all the time…
Kevin McGinty
Friday, March 26, 2010
"Freedom of Speech." You Either Believe In It Or You Don't...
Alright, it looks like the controversy over what kind of picture I can and can’t post still hasn’t been decided, so me and my little Weeble looking guy are going to tell our side of the story.
Looks like you won this battle, StJacques. Evidently if you progressive liberals cry racism often enough, loud enough, and to the right people you can get your way. Whatever.
Just so you know, I did keep my word and removed the picture you were so offended by in the first place. I tried to replace it with a similar one but now all the sudden it’s been rejected (because of racial connotations) by the moderators of this site. So I’ve chosen another one. One that I hope offends you just as much as the first one did but I doubt it will. Either way, life goes on.
Here’s the deal, my friend. This is my blog and the things I write and the pictures I choose to post at any given time are a reflection of my beliefs, thoughts, and opinions. And if somewhere along the way I post something that offends you, well, that’s your problem, not mine. Nowhere is it written nor is it implied that just because you’re a left-wing, Obama supporter that you have some special right, to not be offended. Sorry man, that’s just the way it is.
On the other hand, because of the First Amendment and the whole Freedom of Speech thing, I believe I still have the right to express my opinions as I see fit. And that’s what I intend to do.
StJacques, you and your left-wing buddy’s come in here and offend me every chance you get. And whether I like it or not, you have the right to do so. But let me post a picture that somehow damages you sensibilities you scream racism and cry like a bunch of little girls.
I read somewhere that, “If you don’t believe in the Freedom of Speech of those you despise, then you don’t believe in it at all.” Nuff said…
Kevin McGinty
Looks like you won this battle, StJacques. Evidently if you progressive liberals cry racism often enough, loud enough, and to the right people you can get your way. Whatever.
Just so you know, I did keep my word and removed the picture you were so offended by in the first place. I tried to replace it with a similar one but now all the sudden it’s been rejected (because of racial connotations) by the moderators of this site. So I’ve chosen another one. One that I hope offends you just as much as the first one did but I doubt it will. Either way, life goes on.
Here’s the deal, my friend. This is my blog and the things I write and the pictures I choose to post at any given time are a reflection of my beliefs, thoughts, and opinions. And if somewhere along the way I post something that offends you, well, that’s your problem, not mine. Nowhere is it written nor is it implied that just because you’re a left-wing, Obama supporter that you have some special right, to not be offended. Sorry man, that’s just the way it is.
On the other hand, because of the First Amendment and the whole Freedom of Speech thing, I believe I still have the right to express my opinions as I see fit. And that’s what I intend to do.
StJacques, you and your left-wing buddy’s come in here and offend me every chance you get. And whether I like it or not, you have the right to do so. But let me post a picture that somehow damages you sensibilities you scream racism and cry like a bunch of little girls.
I read somewhere that, “If you don’t believe in the Freedom of Speech of those you despise, then you don’t believe in it at all.” Nuff said…
Kevin McGinty
Thursday, March 18, 2010
United Socialist States of America...
You lib’s, progressives, socialists, or whatever you’re calling yourselves nowadays are so predictable. In the last post I asked the question, what has Obama actually accomplished since taking office. Right from the very start it became perfectly clear you couldn’t answer that simple question so you went straight for the name calling. Let’s see, I was a failed truck driver. I had been fired from the local free newspaper. I was and idiot, a freakin idiot, a racist, and a Klan boy. LMAO!!!
Well, you’re not going to like this question any better but I’m going to ask it anyway. Is there a single Democrat politician left out there who hasn’t sold his or her soul to Obama? Is there one left out there who still has at least a shred of honor left? I doubt it.
Do you realize this health care bill still hasn’t been voted on in the Senate? They don’t have the votes to pass the Senate version in the House. So, for the first time in the history of our nation, a bill that will change every single one of our lives will go to the president and be signed into law without the support of either houses of congress.
And you’re alright with that? I know, that was a stupid question. Of course you’re alright with it. Anything for free stuff, Obama promises to give you, right?
You know as well as I do that if the Republicans were trying to do anything even remotely close to this crap, you’d be screaming in the streets. You’d be whining about those evil Republicans trampling on your rights and destroying the Constitution. But when your guy is doing exactly that, it’s somehow okay.
Yeah I know, the CBO office released it’s projections today. In their best guess, this will be one of the best things to come along in a lifetime. We’ll be able to add tens of millions of people to an already over-burdened health care system and still save money to boot.
Well, rant and rave all you want. Hold up their figures as proof that your president is right. Because figures don’t lie, do they?
No they don’t. But liars do figure…
Kevin McGinty
Well, you’re not going to like this question any better but I’m going to ask it anyway. Is there a single Democrat politician left out there who hasn’t sold his or her soul to Obama? Is there one left out there who still has at least a shred of honor left? I doubt it.
Do you realize this health care bill still hasn’t been voted on in the Senate? They don’t have the votes to pass the Senate version in the House. So, for the first time in the history of our nation, a bill that will change every single one of our lives will go to the president and be signed into law without the support of either houses of congress.
And you’re alright with that? I know, that was a stupid question. Of course you’re alright with it. Anything for free stuff, Obama promises to give you, right?
You know as well as I do that if the Republicans were trying to do anything even remotely close to this crap, you’d be screaming in the streets. You’d be whining about those evil Republicans trampling on your rights and destroying the Constitution. But when your guy is doing exactly that, it’s somehow okay.
Yeah I know, the CBO office released it’s projections today. In their best guess, this will be one of the best things to come along in a lifetime. We’ll be able to add tens of millions of people to an already over-burdened health care system and still save money to boot.
Well, rant and rave all you want. Hold up their figures as proof that your president is right. Because figures don’t lie, do they?
No they don’t. But liars do figure…
Kevin McGinty
Sunday, March 14, 2010
No Whining Please...
Last week I wrote about what I see as the melt-down of the Democratic Party. I asked about what Obama has actually accomplished since taking office over a year ago. And whether you like it or not, he hasn’t really done much of anything except to divide this country like no other president has ever been able to do. Sorry, but that’s just the way I see it.
Because I asked these questions though, one of the posters called this a racist blog and claimed the picture I chose to post of Obama made up to look like The Joker was racist too. Whatever.
There was a time when being labeled a racist by some left-winger was probably something to worry about. But that time has come and gone. Hell, you guys play the race card so often, you’ve actually worn it out. You’re starting to sound like whiners…
So instead of whining, let’s talk about how your president has used race, hatred, and very open, class action warfare to keep us at each other’s throats, while he goes about fulfilling his campaign promise of “fundamentally changing America.” Luckily for us, he’s too weak and inexperienced to be an effective leader and hasn’t accomplished the things necessary to further his Socialist agenda.
It’s funny too. There was a time the left-wingers denied that Obama was a socialist. Now they just ask, what’s so bad about Socialism anyway? Weird…
Kevin McGinty
Because I asked these questions though, one of the posters called this a racist blog and claimed the picture I chose to post of Obama made up to look like The Joker was racist too. Whatever.
There was a time when being labeled a racist by some left-winger was probably something to worry about. But that time has come and gone. Hell, you guys play the race card so often, you’ve actually worn it out. You’re starting to sound like whiners…
So instead of whining, let’s talk about how your president has used race, hatred, and very open, class action warfare to keep us at each other’s throats, while he goes about fulfilling his campaign promise of “fundamentally changing America.” Luckily for us, he’s too weak and inexperienced to be an effective leader and hasn’t accomplished the things necessary to further his Socialist agenda.
It’s funny too. There was a time the left-wingers denied that Obama was a socialist. Now they just ask, what’s so bad about Socialism anyway? Weird…
Kevin McGinty
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Downfall of the Democrats...
Wow! It’s gotta be tough being a Democrat right about now. You know, the way they’ve been holding themselves up to such high standards and all. Nancy Pelosi proudly proclaimed that it was time to drain the swamp. Yeah it’s draining alright. Right before our eyes too, and it all started with Rod Blagojevich, and William Jefferson, remember those guys?
And the draining continues. Democrat Congressman, Charlie Rangel of New York just bit the dust. Democrat Representative, Eric Massa of New York is gone as of Monday morning. And Democrat Governor, David Paterson’s hold on power is getting weaker by the day. All due to one scandal or another.
During the campaign, Obama promised to change the way things were done in Washington. To be more open and transparent. What’s changed? Looks to me like your guys are every bit as corrupt as those evil Republicans you love to hate so much.
Yeah, it’s fair to say he’s changed things but what‘s he accomplished? On his first day in office, Obama showed the world he was a man of his word by signing orders to close that dreaded place called, Guantanamo Bay. Didn’t happen, did it? Now we know he lied.
He was going to prove to the world how just and fair we are by doing away with those hated Military Tribunals and by giving terrorists civilian trials in New York, the very city they tried to destroy. Well, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen either. Looks like we’re back to military tribunals after all. And where do you suppose these tribunals will take place? Yep, right there at Gitmo. The same place that was supposed to be shut down by now. Hmm, weird. You guys hated Bush’s Patriot Act. Now Obama has extended it for a year. Bet you really hate that.
Let’s see, what else has he done since taking office? Twice he’s traveled to Copenhagen. Once to bring home the 2016 Olympics and once to save the world from global warming. He came up short on both trips.
He campaigned for Jon Corzine in New Jersey. Jon Corzine lost that race. He traveled to Virginia to campaign for Creigh Deeds. Creigh Deeds lost that race. He traveled to Massachusetts to salvage Ted Kennedy’s seat by campaigning for Martha Coakley. Well, we all know how that one ended up. She lost too.
Yeah, he has accomplished a couple of things. He did win the Nobel Peace Prize. But then, the bar to winning one of those things was set pretty low for him. But that’s another story.
He’s managed to reach the lowest approval ratings of any president after just one year in office since the birth of our nation. Wow! That’s something to crow about.
More than anything, he’s managed to divide this country more than anyone before him ever has. You just watch, it’s just gonna keep getting worse.
Yeah, it’s gotta be tough being a Democrat right about now…
Kevin McGinty
And the draining continues. Democrat Congressman, Charlie Rangel of New York just bit the dust. Democrat Representative, Eric Massa of New York is gone as of Monday morning. And Democrat Governor, David Paterson’s hold on power is getting weaker by the day. All due to one scandal or another.
During the campaign, Obama promised to change the way things were done in Washington. To be more open and transparent. What’s changed? Looks to me like your guys are every bit as corrupt as those evil Republicans you love to hate so much.
Yeah, it’s fair to say he’s changed things but what‘s he accomplished? On his first day in office, Obama showed the world he was a man of his word by signing orders to close that dreaded place called, Guantanamo Bay. Didn’t happen, did it? Now we know he lied.
He was going to prove to the world how just and fair we are by doing away with those hated Military Tribunals and by giving terrorists civilian trials in New York, the very city they tried to destroy. Well, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen either. Looks like we’re back to military tribunals after all. And where do you suppose these tribunals will take place? Yep, right there at Gitmo. The same place that was supposed to be shut down by now. Hmm, weird. You guys hated Bush’s Patriot Act. Now Obama has extended it for a year. Bet you really hate that.
Let’s see, what else has he done since taking office? Twice he’s traveled to Copenhagen. Once to bring home the 2016 Olympics and once to save the world from global warming. He came up short on both trips.
He campaigned for Jon Corzine in New Jersey. Jon Corzine lost that race. He traveled to Virginia to campaign for Creigh Deeds. Creigh Deeds lost that race. He traveled to Massachusetts to salvage Ted Kennedy’s seat by campaigning for Martha Coakley. Well, we all know how that one ended up. She lost too.
Yeah, he has accomplished a couple of things. He did win the Nobel Peace Prize. But then, the bar to winning one of those things was set pretty low for him. But that’s another story.
He’s managed to reach the lowest approval ratings of any president after just one year in office since the birth of our nation. Wow! That’s something to crow about.
More than anything, he’s managed to divide this country more than anyone before him ever has. You just watch, it’s just gonna keep getting worse.
Yeah, it’s gotta be tough being a Democrat right about now…
Kevin McGinty
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Slidell, Louisiana. What Happens Here Stays Here...
Before we get started today, I probably ought to explain to those of you haven’t been following along that this is the fourth part of a road trip we’re taking. We’re headed to Taft, Louisiana to pick up a load of some kind of chemical containers. We’re taking a break at a truck stop just outside of Slidell, La. Who knows? Maybe even do a little partying. The rest of the crew is inside doing what they’re doing. Me? Well, I’m out here in the truck getting caught up on my paper work and figuring out the best route to take once we head for West Virginia tomorrow afternoon. But hey, here comes the rest of the crew. I gotta get all this stuff put away.
So, you guys ready? What’s that? Oh yeah, this place is huge. You can get about anything you can think of in there. Yeah, they have pretty much anything you’d ever need. You can get your groceries in there. They have trucker, biker, and cowboy stuff. Clothes of all kinds. You can play video games, get a hair cut, or have your shoes shined. You can take a shower and do your laundry if you need to. Upstairs in the driver’s lounge you can usually catch a movie and they’ll give you free popcorn to boot. And if you come through on a Sunday morning, feeling a little lonely, or just need someone to talk to, there’s a chapel out back.
Hey, before we walk over to the bar, I want to show guys something. See those two gals over by that flat bed a couple of rows up? It won’t be long before they’re back here? They’re hookers. Truckers call them lot lizards. And see that guy in the blue Caprice that’s been driving around? I’m pretty sure he’s their pimp. And more than likely, he’s the one with all the drugs too.
Here they come. What’s that sweetheart? You want to know if I’m looking for a date? I don’t know. What are you offering? About that time the tall, skinny one showed me her boobs, said she was something special and promised it‘d be a date I‘d never forget. Sorry sweetheart, I’m just messing with you. Nah, I’m not looking for a date. My wife really wouldn’t understand. What’s that? I don’t know. I’ll ask them. Hey guys, These two young ladies, Star and Fallen Angel want to know if any of you’d like to spend a little time with them tonight. Hey, we’re all adults here, you guys do what you want. Remember, what happens here stays here.
I’m going to head on across the street. Come on, I’ll introduce you to an old friend of mine. One I haven’t seen in a very long time. I wonder if he’s still mad.
Billy Cunningham! How in the world have you been? Man, it’s good to see you. Billy looked up from behind the bar just shook his head and said, well, well, well, look what the dogs drug in. Thought maybe you’d died or something, Bojangles. And you know, you’re lucky I don’t just come across this bar and beat the crap out of you.
Ah shut up, tough guy. We both know the only reason you don’t is because you know you can’t take me. Besides, you know as well as I do that cowboy started the fight that night. What was I supposed to do, just stand there and let beat on me? Billy started laughing and said, you might as well have. He beat the crap out of you anyway! Yeah, you’re real funny, tough guy. Hey, why don’t you bring us a couple of pitchers and a Coke, will you? I brought a some friends I’d like you to meet.
So what do you think, guys? What’s so special about it? Oh, nothing I guess. Yeah, it’s just a bar. A bar like you’d find anywhere. They have a bar, booths, and tables. There’s a juke box and a couple of pool tables and a dance floor, they have live music on the weekends. I guess it’s just the people. Most of the people here are truckers. And like tuckers everywhere, we’re never in one place for much longer than a day at a time. You know, the here today and gone tomorrow thing. I’ve met a lot of good people out here on the road. But I’ve also met some I hope I never see again. You just gotta watch yourself.
Well hey, it’s getting late. I’m going to head back to the truck and get some sleep. Nah, I’m not drinking, you guys go ahead. I guess I finally outgrew most of that stuff. Go ahead and stay as late as you want. Do me a favor though, keep an eye on Bob. I don’t think Billy likes him.
Kevin McGinty
So, you guys ready? What’s that? Oh yeah, this place is huge. You can get about anything you can think of in there. Yeah, they have pretty much anything you’d ever need. You can get your groceries in there. They have trucker, biker, and cowboy stuff. Clothes of all kinds. You can play video games, get a hair cut, or have your shoes shined. You can take a shower and do your laundry if you need to. Upstairs in the driver’s lounge you can usually catch a movie and they’ll give you free popcorn to boot. And if you come through on a Sunday morning, feeling a little lonely, or just need someone to talk to, there’s a chapel out back.
Hey, before we walk over to the bar, I want to show guys something. See those two gals over by that flat bed a couple of rows up? It won’t be long before they’re back here? They’re hookers. Truckers call them lot lizards. And see that guy in the blue Caprice that’s been driving around? I’m pretty sure he’s their pimp. And more than likely, he’s the one with all the drugs too.
Here they come. What’s that sweetheart? You want to know if I’m looking for a date? I don’t know. What are you offering? About that time the tall, skinny one showed me her boobs, said she was something special and promised it‘d be a date I‘d never forget. Sorry sweetheart, I’m just messing with you. Nah, I’m not looking for a date. My wife really wouldn’t understand. What’s that? I don’t know. I’ll ask them. Hey guys, These two young ladies, Star and Fallen Angel want to know if any of you’d like to spend a little time with them tonight. Hey, we’re all adults here, you guys do what you want. Remember, what happens here stays here.
I’m going to head on across the street. Come on, I’ll introduce you to an old friend of mine. One I haven’t seen in a very long time. I wonder if he’s still mad.
Billy Cunningham! How in the world have you been? Man, it’s good to see you. Billy looked up from behind the bar just shook his head and said, well, well, well, look what the dogs drug in. Thought maybe you’d died or something, Bojangles. And you know, you’re lucky I don’t just come across this bar and beat the crap out of you.
Ah shut up, tough guy. We both know the only reason you don’t is because you know you can’t take me. Besides, you know as well as I do that cowboy started the fight that night. What was I supposed to do, just stand there and let beat on me? Billy started laughing and said, you might as well have. He beat the crap out of you anyway! Yeah, you’re real funny, tough guy. Hey, why don’t you bring us a couple of pitchers and a Coke, will you? I brought a some friends I’d like you to meet.
So what do you think, guys? What’s so special about it? Oh, nothing I guess. Yeah, it’s just a bar. A bar like you’d find anywhere. They have a bar, booths, and tables. There’s a juke box and a couple of pool tables and a dance floor, they have live music on the weekends. I guess it’s just the people. Most of the people here are truckers. And like tuckers everywhere, we’re never in one place for much longer than a day at a time. You know, the here today and gone tomorrow thing. I’ve met a lot of good people out here on the road. But I’ve also met some I hope I never see again. You just gotta watch yourself.
Well hey, it’s getting late. I’m going to head back to the truck and get some sleep. Nah, I’m not drinking, you guys go ahead. I guess I finally outgrew most of that stuff. Go ahead and stay as late as you want. Do me a favor though, keep an eye on Bob. I don’t think Billy likes him.
Kevin McGinty
Saturday, February 27, 2010
On To Slidell...
Alright guys, check it out. We’re about to cross the Mississippi River. It kind of makes the Kansas River back home look like a creek, doesn’t it? We’re just outside Memphis and should be pulling onto the truck stop in about fifteen minutes or so. What’s that? You say you guys are about to pee your pants. Yeah, me too. But I gotta be honest though. While you guys were sleeping I pulled into a rest area twice on the way here. Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up. You looked so peaceful and all. I’ll tell you what. I’ll drop you off out front so you can run in and take care of business, I’ll go ahead and fuel up then find us a parking place and meet you inside in about a half an hour or so. And hey, if some of you end up in the restaurant before I get back, save me a seat, will you?
Oh crap! Hey guys, it’s almost 5 o’clock in the morning. We gotta get going. How about we grab a quick breakfast and meet back here in an hour. That way we can get out of town before traffic gets too bad. That’s kind of the way I try to plan my runs. You try to hit the big cities either real early in the morning or real late at night.
I can already tell, it’s going to be a good day to be on the road. Interstate all the way. We’re taking I-55 straight through the heart of Mississippi, and let me tell you, life just doesn’t get much better than that. I don’t know whether any of you have through Mississippi or not. If you have, you know what I‘m talking about. It’s an absolutely beautiful state. Anyway, we’ll stay on I-55 clear into Louisiana where we’ll pick up I-12, then it’s a straight shot to Slidell. Let’s get going. Hey, you want to hand me that Arlo Guthrie CD. Yeah, that’s the one. Sing along if you want. Good morning America, how are ya.
Breaker 1-9, how bout that north-bound cattle truck working his way up to Music Town, you got your radio on? Yeah, you got the Trail Boss here, what can I do for you? Hey thanks Trail Boss, you got Bojangles here. How’s it looking back your way? Oh, Bojangles, be careful out there. The Chicken Coops (weigh stations) are open and it looks like they’re pulling everybody in. Better have all your paper work in line. They’re checking that too. Dang, Trail Boss, you’re just full of good news, aren’t you? He came back and just laughed then said, where you headed anyway, Bojangles? I told him we we’re headed to Slidell to get a little rest. Trail Boss laughed and said, you lie like a dog, Bojangles. You know as well as I do that rest is the last thing on your mind if you’re going to Slidell! Just be careful, Bojangles. This is the Trail Boss and I’m headed to the house. I said, be careful out there, Trail Boss. You got Bojangles on this end and we’re heading south just as fast as this old truck will take us.
I probably should have told you more about the truck stop we’re headed to in Slidell. Let’s see, how do I say this? Hmm, let’s just say it’s not a place you’d want to take your mom to. How’s that?
Anyway, there it is. Let’s see if we can find a parking place. Hey breaker 1-9, you got Bojangles here, where‘s all the trashy (party) people hanging out tonight? Yeah, you got the Alabama Kid here, Bojangles, we‘re all hanging out in the back row waiting for the show to begin. Bring it on back, there’s plenty of room. Hey thanks, Alabama Kid. We’ll be there in a couple of minutes. You guys ready? Here’s the deal. Slidell is a little like Vegas. What happens here, stays here.
Man, I could really use a shower. How about we get cleaned up, get something to eat, and meet back here at the truck around 6 o’clock. A good friend of mine, Billy Cunningham and his wife run the bar across the street and if you’re interested, I’ll buy the first round.
Hey, wait a minute. Did you guys hear that. It sounds like something’s banging on the back of the sleeper. There it is again. Sounds like someone’s crying too. Hear it? I’ll be right back, I’d better check it out.
What the hell!? Bob, what in the world are you doing back here? Man, you could have frozen to death. Are you crazy or something?
Hey guys, look what I found, all shivering and curled up in the fetal position on the deck plate between the cab and the trailer. It’s our buddy, Bob Smith from back home. He says he was coming back from the bathroom back in Memphis when he saw us leaving. He says he ran alongside the passenger side of the truck and even tried banging on the door. Bob, I’m sorry man. I had no idea you were back there. I really thought everybody that was coming along was onboard. If it makes you feel better, from now on, we’ll do a head count before hitting the road. Okay? Now go on, get your butt up there in that truck and get warmed up. Man, I’m getting cold just looking at you.
I’ll tell you what, Bob. Just to prove to you that I still want to be friends, I’ll even buy you a beer tonight. How’s that?
Kevin McGinty
Oh crap! Hey guys, it’s almost 5 o’clock in the morning. We gotta get going. How about we grab a quick breakfast and meet back here in an hour. That way we can get out of town before traffic gets too bad. That’s kind of the way I try to plan my runs. You try to hit the big cities either real early in the morning or real late at night.
I can already tell, it’s going to be a good day to be on the road. Interstate all the way. We’re taking I-55 straight through the heart of Mississippi, and let me tell you, life just doesn’t get much better than that. I don’t know whether any of you have through Mississippi or not. If you have, you know what I‘m talking about. It’s an absolutely beautiful state. Anyway, we’ll stay on I-55 clear into Louisiana where we’ll pick up I-12, then it’s a straight shot to Slidell. Let’s get going. Hey, you want to hand me that Arlo Guthrie CD. Yeah, that’s the one. Sing along if you want. Good morning America, how are ya.
Breaker 1-9, how bout that north-bound cattle truck working his way up to Music Town, you got your radio on? Yeah, you got the Trail Boss here, what can I do for you? Hey thanks Trail Boss, you got Bojangles here. How’s it looking back your way? Oh, Bojangles, be careful out there. The Chicken Coops (weigh stations) are open and it looks like they’re pulling everybody in. Better have all your paper work in line. They’re checking that too. Dang, Trail Boss, you’re just full of good news, aren’t you? He came back and just laughed then said, where you headed anyway, Bojangles? I told him we we’re headed to Slidell to get a little rest. Trail Boss laughed and said, you lie like a dog, Bojangles. You know as well as I do that rest is the last thing on your mind if you’re going to Slidell! Just be careful, Bojangles. This is the Trail Boss and I’m headed to the house. I said, be careful out there, Trail Boss. You got Bojangles on this end and we’re heading south just as fast as this old truck will take us.
I probably should have told you more about the truck stop we’re headed to in Slidell. Let’s see, how do I say this? Hmm, let’s just say it’s not a place you’d want to take your mom to. How’s that?
Anyway, there it is. Let’s see if we can find a parking place. Hey breaker 1-9, you got Bojangles here, where‘s all the trashy (party) people hanging out tonight? Yeah, you got the Alabama Kid here, Bojangles, we‘re all hanging out in the back row waiting for the show to begin. Bring it on back, there’s plenty of room. Hey thanks, Alabama Kid. We’ll be there in a couple of minutes. You guys ready? Here’s the deal. Slidell is a little like Vegas. What happens here, stays here.
Man, I could really use a shower. How about we get cleaned up, get something to eat, and meet back here at the truck around 6 o’clock. A good friend of mine, Billy Cunningham and his wife run the bar across the street and if you’re interested, I’ll buy the first round.
Hey, wait a minute. Did you guys hear that. It sounds like something’s banging on the back of the sleeper. There it is again. Sounds like someone’s crying too. Hear it? I’ll be right back, I’d better check it out.
What the hell!? Bob, what in the world are you doing back here? Man, you could have frozen to death. Are you crazy or something?
Hey guys, look what I found, all shivering and curled up in the fetal position on the deck plate between the cab and the trailer. It’s our buddy, Bob Smith from back home. He says he was coming back from the bathroom back in Memphis when he saw us leaving. He says he ran alongside the passenger side of the truck and even tried banging on the door. Bob, I’m sorry man. I had no idea you were back there. I really thought everybody that was coming along was onboard. If it makes you feel better, from now on, we’ll do a head count before hitting the road. Okay? Now go on, get your butt up there in that truck and get warmed up. Man, I’m getting cold just looking at you.
I’ll tell you what, Bob. Just to prove to you that I still want to be friends, I’ll even buy you a beer tonight. How’s that?
Kevin McGinty
Friday, February 26, 2010
Hop In...
You ready? Go ahead and throw your bags in one of those outside compartments and climb on up. Slide on back there in the sleeper. There’s a seat on both ends and two bunks to sleep on. Over there is the fridge, microwave, built in stereo, and a TV-DVD player. Over in that corner is a stack of movies and some of my old CDs. Get settled in and make yourself at home.
Today we’re headed to Slidell, Louisiana (915 miles) with this load of water beds I picked up in Casper, Wyoming three days ago. We’re supposed to drop this load off and pick up an empty trailer at a drop yard in Slidell, then take it to some chemical plant somewhere outside of Taft, Louisiana, about a 70 mile drive. Not bad but it takes us right through the heart of New Orleans. It’s not that I don’t like New Orleans. Hell I love the place. It’s just that cities, especially old one’s aren’t exactly truck friendly. You’ll see what I mean when we get there.
Well hey, it’s already 6 o’clock in the morning, we gotta get going. I’d really like to make it through Kansas City before traffic gets crazy. If we don’t run into too many problems on the road, we ought to be eating lunch in Springfield, Missouri in about four or five hours. Then it’s another hard five or six hours till we shut down for the night in Memphis.
Breaker 1-9. How bout that west-bound, flatbed just coming into T-Town. You got your radio on, Bud? A few seconds later a loud, booming, semi-friendly voice crackles over the C.B., You got The Wagon Master here. Who we got on that end and what’s on your mind east-bound? Hey, thanks for the break, Wagon Master. You got Bojangles on this end. How’s it looking over your shoulder? Wagon Master comes back and says he hasn’t seen a cop all night. Then he talked about how hard it was snowing south of Kansas City where he had just come from. Great. That’s exactly where we’re headed. I thanked him for the depressing weather update, wished him well, and told him to keep it between the ditches. This is Bojangles, and we’re outta here.
Hey, I’m gonna need one of you guys to help navigate this thing. I usually do it myself but it’s always good to have a second pair of eyes. We’re going to drop south around KC then hit 71 South. We’ll stay on that one till we get to Harrisonville where we’ll have to take some other road. That’s where the navigator comes in. You’ll need to pick out a route that’ll take us south through Springfield and Branson, Missouri. From there we’ll probably take 65 South to Little Rock, Arkansas, where we’ll run into I-40 East and on into Memphis. Which, by the way, is where I plan on calling it a day anyway. It’s a little over halfway to Slidell and by then I’ll be out of hours anyway.
Alright, there it is, South 71. You guys doing okay back there? What’s that? You say you didn’t realize it would be such a rough ride. Sorry, I guess I just figured everybody knew that. Yeah, it gets pretty bad. You’ll get used to it though. Hey, check it out, the sun’s just starting to rise. I get to watch the sun come up almost every morning. And it’s something I never get tired of.
I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to pop in an old Arlo Guthrie CD I came across a while back at a truck stop. Ever hear him sing the song called “City of New Orleans?” You know the one. It goes something like this. Good morning America, how are ya? Say, don’t you know me, I’m your native son. I’m the train they call the City of New Orleans, I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done. Anyway, something like that. Seems kind of fitting.
Hey guys, we lost a lot of time because of the snow back around KC. What do you say we bypass lunch in Springfield and keep pushing on to Memphis? There’s plenty of stuff for sandwiches in the fridge and should be plenty to drink. You guys okay with that? You sure? Good.
Might as well get comfortable then. Hey, why don’t you put in that movie. Yeah, the one on top. That’s the one. It’s called Fried Green Tomatoes. I just love that old movie. I’ll talk to you when we get to Memphis…
Kevin McGinty
Today we’re headed to Slidell, Louisiana (915 miles) with this load of water beds I picked up in Casper, Wyoming three days ago. We’re supposed to drop this load off and pick up an empty trailer at a drop yard in Slidell, then take it to some chemical plant somewhere outside of Taft, Louisiana, about a 70 mile drive. Not bad but it takes us right through the heart of New Orleans. It’s not that I don’t like New Orleans. Hell I love the place. It’s just that cities, especially old one’s aren’t exactly truck friendly. You’ll see what I mean when we get there.
Well hey, it’s already 6 o’clock in the morning, we gotta get going. I’d really like to make it through Kansas City before traffic gets crazy. If we don’t run into too many problems on the road, we ought to be eating lunch in Springfield, Missouri in about four or five hours. Then it’s another hard five or six hours till we shut down for the night in Memphis.
Breaker 1-9. How bout that west-bound, flatbed just coming into T-Town. You got your radio on, Bud? A few seconds later a loud, booming, semi-friendly voice crackles over the C.B., You got The Wagon Master here. Who we got on that end and what’s on your mind east-bound? Hey, thanks for the break, Wagon Master. You got Bojangles on this end. How’s it looking over your shoulder? Wagon Master comes back and says he hasn’t seen a cop all night. Then he talked about how hard it was snowing south of Kansas City where he had just come from. Great. That’s exactly where we’re headed. I thanked him for the depressing weather update, wished him well, and told him to keep it between the ditches. This is Bojangles, and we’re outta here.
Hey, I’m gonna need one of you guys to help navigate this thing. I usually do it myself but it’s always good to have a second pair of eyes. We’re going to drop south around KC then hit 71 South. We’ll stay on that one till we get to Harrisonville where we’ll have to take some other road. That’s where the navigator comes in. You’ll need to pick out a route that’ll take us south through Springfield and Branson, Missouri. From there we’ll probably take 65 South to Little Rock, Arkansas, where we’ll run into I-40 East and on into Memphis. Which, by the way, is where I plan on calling it a day anyway. It’s a little over halfway to Slidell and by then I’ll be out of hours anyway.
Alright, there it is, South 71. You guys doing okay back there? What’s that? You say you didn’t realize it would be such a rough ride. Sorry, I guess I just figured everybody knew that. Yeah, it gets pretty bad. You’ll get used to it though. Hey, check it out, the sun’s just starting to rise. I get to watch the sun come up almost every morning. And it’s something I never get tired of.
I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to pop in an old Arlo Guthrie CD I came across a while back at a truck stop. Ever hear him sing the song called “City of New Orleans?” You know the one. It goes something like this. Good morning America, how are ya? Say, don’t you know me, I’m your native son. I’m the train they call the City of New Orleans, I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done. Anyway, something like that. Seems kind of fitting.
Hey guys, we lost a lot of time because of the snow back around KC. What do you say we bypass lunch in Springfield and keep pushing on to Memphis? There’s plenty of stuff for sandwiches in the fridge and should be plenty to drink. You guys okay with that? You sure? Good.
Might as well get comfortable then. Hey, why don’t you put in that movie. Yeah, the one on top. That’s the one. It’s called Fried Green Tomatoes. I just love that old movie. I’ll talk to you when we get to Memphis…
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Is It a Long Story Grandpa...
I’ve never mentioned it here on cjonline, but I used to drive a truck over the road. And I thought it might be fun to share a story about one of the loads I hauled. But first, I’ll tell you the story of what reminded me of it to begin with. That part’s a story about my 10-year-old grandson, Adam.
Ever since he was about five, Adam has spent Saturday nights with us. We’ve become great buddies and do a lot of stuff together. Currently we’re working on some Star Wars, Robotic Arm thing he got for Christmas. It’s one of those “Easy to Assemble” projects. Yeah right. The stupid thing probably has somewhere around a bazillion pieces. And if you don’t get every single one of them exactly right none of it works.
Well, that’s what happened. We had it all together and when it was time to test it out, two of the fingers wouldn’t move. Hey, it was good enough for me but Adam insisted we take the whole thing apart and fix it. That’s exactly what we did and it’s still sitting there on his table in the basement.
Last Saturday night we decided to give it another shot. We got all the pieces arranged the best we could and got started. It wasn’t long before, Adam decided he really didn’t want to mess with it which was just fine with me. I got on the computer while he entertained himself by going through my boxes of stuff. He dug out one of my old brief cases. It used to be my Dad’s. He used it when was a platform operator for Gulf Oil out in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s black and has his name taped on by one those old ribbon guns. It’s covered with the logos of several different oil field related companies and a bunch of safety awards. Yeah, you could say it has a lot of sentimental value.
I explained to him that it had once belonged to his great grand father and how he gave it to me the night I swung by his house in Lake Charles, Louisiana while I was driving a truck over the road.
Adam seemed genuinely impressed with that part of the story. We opened it up and there were a bunch of my old log books, note books, load information sheets, nationwide fuel stop locations, telephone numbers, pictures, post cards, and pens that don’t work anymore. You know, treasures.
I was looking through the log books when one trip in particular caught my eye. It was a load of chemicals I’d hauled from Taft, Louisiana to a town called Nitro, West Virginia. A hell trip if ever there was one. I asked Adam if wanted to hear the story. He thought about, then said something like, I’m sure it’s a good story grandpa, but is it going to be a long one? I was really hoping I could go upstairs to play my game pretty soon. I couldn’t help but laugh and told him to get his butt up there and get after it then.
So, here’s the deal. Now there’s nobody left to tell my story to except you guys. How about it, are you up to a road trip in a 75,000 lb. truck loaded down with explosive chemicals? Just so you know, this particular trip’s going to involve fun things like truck-stop hookers in Slidell, Louisiana, The Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, a chemical plant explosion in Nitro, West Virginia, and the E.P.A. It wasn’t one of my favorite runs but it’s one of the one’s I’ll always remember.
Talk to you guys later…
Kevin McGinty
Ever since he was about five, Adam has spent Saturday nights with us. We’ve become great buddies and do a lot of stuff together. Currently we’re working on some Star Wars, Robotic Arm thing he got for Christmas. It’s one of those “Easy to Assemble” projects. Yeah right. The stupid thing probably has somewhere around a bazillion pieces. And if you don’t get every single one of them exactly right none of it works.
Well, that’s what happened. We had it all together and when it was time to test it out, two of the fingers wouldn’t move. Hey, it was good enough for me but Adam insisted we take the whole thing apart and fix it. That’s exactly what we did and it’s still sitting there on his table in the basement.
Last Saturday night we decided to give it another shot. We got all the pieces arranged the best we could and got started. It wasn’t long before, Adam decided he really didn’t want to mess with it which was just fine with me. I got on the computer while he entertained himself by going through my boxes of stuff. He dug out one of my old brief cases. It used to be my Dad’s. He used it when was a platform operator for Gulf Oil out in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s black and has his name taped on by one those old ribbon guns. It’s covered with the logos of several different oil field related companies and a bunch of safety awards. Yeah, you could say it has a lot of sentimental value.
I explained to him that it had once belonged to his great grand father and how he gave it to me the night I swung by his house in Lake Charles, Louisiana while I was driving a truck over the road.
Adam seemed genuinely impressed with that part of the story. We opened it up and there were a bunch of my old log books, note books, load information sheets, nationwide fuel stop locations, telephone numbers, pictures, post cards, and pens that don’t work anymore. You know, treasures.
I was looking through the log books when one trip in particular caught my eye. It was a load of chemicals I’d hauled from Taft, Louisiana to a town called Nitro, West Virginia. A hell trip if ever there was one. I asked Adam if wanted to hear the story. He thought about, then said something like, I’m sure it’s a good story grandpa, but is it going to be a long one? I was really hoping I could go upstairs to play my game pretty soon. I couldn’t help but laugh and told him to get his butt up there and get after it then.
So, here’s the deal. Now there’s nobody left to tell my story to except you guys. How about it, are you up to a road trip in a 75,000 lb. truck loaded down with explosive chemicals? Just so you know, this particular trip’s going to involve fun things like truck-stop hookers in Slidell, Louisiana, The Huey P. Long Bridge in New Orleans, a chemical plant explosion in Nitro, West Virginia, and the E.P.A. It wasn’t one of my favorite runs but it’s one of the one’s I’ll always remember.
Talk to you guys later…
Kevin McGinty
Friday, February 19, 2010
Random Thoughts...
Just a few random thoughts to wind up the week:
So Tiger Woods comes out and apologizes for cheating on his wife and like so many other multi millionaires, he uses an addiction for an excuse. Whatever. It’s funny too, he really wanted to make sure people understood that his wife never did hit him. He’s a lucky guy. If his wife had been anything like mine, she’d have beat him half to death, sex addiction or not.
Just the other day, Hillary Clinton shocked the world by announcing that it appears that Iran is slowly becoming a Military dictatorship. And Thursday, the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivered a shock of their own by telling the world it looks like maybe, just maybe Iran is actually working toward a nuclear weapons program. Duh! You just can’t get anything past these people, can you?
Last but not least, a couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that Corporations should be allowed to contribute to political campaigns of their choice. The outrage was swift and severe. But when Obama unveiled his 1.5 billion dollar, tax payer supported, plan today to bailout victims of the housing crisis in the state of Nevada while he just happened to be there campaigning for Harry Reid, we don’t even hear a whisper. Hmm, weird…
Have a good weekend guys, talk to you later…
Kevin McGinty
So Tiger Woods comes out and apologizes for cheating on his wife and like so many other multi millionaires, he uses an addiction for an excuse. Whatever. It’s funny too, he really wanted to make sure people understood that his wife never did hit him. He’s a lucky guy. If his wife had been anything like mine, she’d have beat him half to death, sex addiction or not.
Just the other day, Hillary Clinton shocked the world by announcing that it appears that Iran is slowly becoming a Military dictatorship. And Thursday, the United Nation’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivered a shock of their own by telling the world it looks like maybe, just maybe Iran is actually working toward a nuclear weapons program. Duh! You just can’t get anything past these people, can you?
Last but not least, a couple of weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that Corporations should be allowed to contribute to political campaigns of their choice. The outrage was swift and severe. But when Obama unveiled his 1.5 billion dollar, tax payer supported, plan today to bailout victims of the housing crisis in the state of Nevada while he just happened to be there campaigning for Harry Reid, we don’t even hear a whisper. Hmm, weird…
Have a good weekend guys, talk to you later…
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Lies, Lies, and more Lies...
I gotta hand it to you global warming believers out there. No matter how much evidence is presented to prove you wrong, you continue to believe.
When the hacked email scandal broke, (climate gate) instead of questioning the lies the emails revealed, you wanted to attack the hackers. Because, you know, they’re the real criminals here, right? Typical.
When the ICPP, (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) who’s statement of principles goes something like this; Our mission is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, transparent basis, scientific, technical socio-economic information. IPCC reports should be neutral with respect to policy. When the IPCC released their, Nobel Prize winning report warning that the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 and in the process billions of people who depend on the glaciers for drinking water will perish. You cheered them on.
But when the scientist behind the Himalayan glacier report scandal, Dr. Murari Lal, admitted the report was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders. He said in an interview, “We thought if we could highlight it, it would impact policy-makers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action.” Suddenly, you don’t want to talk about it. Hmm.
When discredited, scientist, Jeff Jones, said the other day that there has been no warming of any kind in the last fifteen years and admitted the earth was probably much warmer in mid-evil times, you remain silent. Weird.
But still, you believe. You say, all this proves nothing.
Ah, but it does. It proves that when you build your house on a foundation of nothing but lies, exaggerations, and half-truths, the entire house will eventually crumble.
Yet you continue to believe. Weird…
Kevin McGinty
When the hacked email scandal broke, (climate gate) instead of questioning the lies the emails revealed, you wanted to attack the hackers. Because, you know, they’re the real criminals here, right? Typical.
When the ICPP, (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) who’s statement of principles goes something like this; Our mission is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, transparent basis, scientific, technical socio-economic information. IPCC reports should be neutral with respect to policy. When the IPCC released their, Nobel Prize winning report warning that the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035 and in the process billions of people who depend on the glaciers for drinking water will perish. You cheered them on.
But when the scientist behind the Himalayan glacier report scandal, Dr. Murari Lal, admitted the report was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders. He said in an interview, “We thought if we could highlight it, it would impact policy-makers and politicians and encourage them to take some concrete action.” Suddenly, you don’t want to talk about it. Hmm.
When discredited, scientist, Jeff Jones, said the other day that there has been no warming of any kind in the last fifteen years and admitted the earth was probably much warmer in mid-evil times, you remain silent. Weird.
But still, you believe. You say, all this proves nothing.
Ah, but it does. It proves that when you build your house on a foundation of nothing but lies, exaggerations, and half-truths, the entire house will eventually crumble.
Yet you continue to believe. Weird…
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Small Miracles
Thank God for small miracles.
Because of the massive blizzards that have pounded the entire eastern seaboard over the last few days, Washington D.C. and Congress has been shut down for the last three days in a row now. How many trillions of dollars do you suppose that has saved us?
Also because of major winter storms throughout the entire United States the last two years now, Al Gore has gone into hiding. Don’t worry though, his allies of the faith, are still out there. I heard a guy the other day claiming the downturn of the earth’s temperature the last few years and this years major winter blizzards are further proof of global-warming. Sorry, but a lot of us just aren’t buying it anymore.
On the upside, I heard a report that the ten American’s being held in Haiti could be released as early as tomorrow. Hopefully, by the time you read this they’ll all be on their way home and we can have a little good news for a change…
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
Because of the massive blizzards that have pounded the entire eastern seaboard over the last few days, Washington D.C. and Congress has been shut down for the last three days in a row now. How many trillions of dollars do you suppose that has saved us?
Also because of major winter storms throughout the entire United States the last two years now, Al Gore has gone into hiding. Don’t worry though, his allies of the faith, are still out there. I heard a guy the other day claiming the downturn of the earth’s temperature the last few years and this years major winter blizzards are further proof of global-warming. Sorry, but a lot of us just aren’t buying it anymore.
On the upside, I heard a report that the ten American’s being held in Haiti could be released as early as tomorrow. Hopefully, by the time you read this they’ll all be on their way home and we can have a little good news for a change…
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
Saturday, February 6, 2010
How About Standing Up For America For A Change...
Dear Mr. President,
It’s no secret I don’t like you or what you’re trying to do to our country and according to your plunging approval ratings, a lot of others feel the same way.
You’ve spent the last year traveling around the world apologizing for everything America has ever done, real or imagined, to anyone who would listen. We’ve watched you bow to way too many world leaders. You say it’s a sign of respect. I disagree.
But Mr. President, you have a unique chance to stand up for America for a change. I’m talking about the ten Americans being held against their will in horrid conditions in a jail somewhere in the middle of Haiti.
You might remind, Haitian President, Mr. Preval, that if it weren’t for America and her generous people most of their population would have starved to death by now. You might remind him that it was the American’s who first responded when his country was destroyed. You might want to mention that we responded because that’s what we do. And we do it because we care.
You need to assure him you realize there were probably international laws broken by the actions of the ten American citizens being held in his country for trying to rescue kids from his ravaged, dysfunctional country. Assure him they will be held accountable for their actions. Remind him that although these American citizens might not have had the paper work required of them, they were just trying to help some of the kids he‘s not able to anyway.
Explain to him that it’s imperative the Americans they’re holding be transferred to U.S. custody within 48 hours or you will send in a few marines and we’ll take them back, by force, if that’s the way it has to be. And if has to come to that, America will pack up everything we’re doing there, go home and take care of ourselves for a change. Maybe France will step up to the plate.
What’s it going to be, Mr. President? Are you going to stand up for America for a change or are you going to let this idiot make a fool out of us?
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
It’s no secret I don’t like you or what you’re trying to do to our country and according to your plunging approval ratings, a lot of others feel the same way.
You’ve spent the last year traveling around the world apologizing for everything America has ever done, real or imagined, to anyone who would listen. We’ve watched you bow to way too many world leaders. You say it’s a sign of respect. I disagree.
But Mr. President, you have a unique chance to stand up for America for a change. I’m talking about the ten Americans being held against their will in horrid conditions in a jail somewhere in the middle of Haiti.
You might remind, Haitian President, Mr. Preval, that if it weren’t for America and her generous people most of their population would have starved to death by now. You might remind him that it was the American’s who first responded when his country was destroyed. You might want to mention that we responded because that’s what we do. And we do it because we care.
You need to assure him you realize there were probably international laws broken by the actions of the ten American citizens being held in his country for trying to rescue kids from his ravaged, dysfunctional country. Assure him they will be held accountable for their actions. Remind him that although these American citizens might not have had the paper work required of them, they were just trying to help some of the kids he‘s not able to anyway.
Explain to him that it’s imperative the Americans they’re holding be transferred to U.S. custody within 48 hours or you will send in a few marines and we’ll take them back, by force, if that’s the way it has to be. And if has to come to that, America will pack up everything we’re doing there, go home and take care of ourselves for a change. Maybe France will step up to the plate.
What’s it going to be, Mr. President? Are you going to stand up for America for a change or are you going to let this idiot make a fool out of us?
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
What A Crock...
“The lopsided approach of only cutting expenditures isn’t working. The state clearly needs additional revenue, and it’s time the Legislature quit listening to lobbyists’ gloom and doom predictions and come up with a plan to deal with the issue.”
Those are the words of a lady from Lecompton in a letter to the editor the other day. And in my own humble opinion, it’s a completely, bass-akward way of thinking.
How about this, how about instead of constantly raising our taxes, how about we hold our elected officials personally responsible for the decisions they make as far as how they spend the tax dollars they’ve all promised to be good stewards of.
They tell us we’re $400 million short of being able to balance the budget. It’s a crisis they say. Yeah it probably is too. You don’t think it has anything to do with the wasteful spending they’ve done in past years, do you? Of course not. We’ve already cut government expenses to the bone.
How vital was it to dump $300 million into the bottomless pit otherwise known as our State Capital Building right here in Topeka when most of us in the private sector are doing our best just to put food on the table and keep the lights on.
Locally, our know it all, Topeka City Council, in all their collective, infinite wisdom told us the City’s broke and the only way we can have decent streets to drive on is to approve a tax increase. Okay, enough of us fell for it and voted to give them just what they asked for.
Yeah, the City’s broke alright. So broke that they approved some of the most ridiculously, expensive projects I’ve ever heard of in the middle of a recession. Yeah, we really “needed” to spend $1.2 million dollars to replace the cart paths at the Topeka Public Golf Course. There must be an overwhelming “need” to have a new building at Gage Park’s Helen Hocker Theater. I mean, the need must be huge if we’re willing to put up $853,000 dollars to build it, right? Oh yeah, let’s not forget the Landon Trail. They approved an additional $145,000 dollars to extend it. What a crock.
Oh yeah, how about those poor ol’ school districts out there. They’re just barely getting by, right? That’s another crock and those of us who pay attention, know it too.
Tell me, what’d they do with the $700 million the Supreme Court handed them a few years ago. How many new gyms did they build? How many new band and football uniforms did that money buy? How many new football and soccer fields have we paid for? What about baseball diamonds? And once you build all these impressive facilities, you simply have to have new stadiums to go along with them, right? Whatever!
I was working in Hays a couple of weeks ago. And it just so happened they were hosting a big wrestling tournament. Schools were in town from all over western Kansas. Nothing wrong with that. But you should have seen what they were driving. Parking lots all over town were loaded with top of the line, School District, Chevy Suburbans and Ford Expeditions.
Yeah, they’re broke alright. They’re talking about closing and consolidating schools. Talking about cutting programs and laying off teachers. But there’s no way in hell the administrators should have to travel in anything but the best.
What a crock…
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
Those are the words of a lady from Lecompton in a letter to the editor the other day. And in my own humble opinion, it’s a completely, bass-akward way of thinking.
How about this, how about instead of constantly raising our taxes, how about we hold our elected officials personally responsible for the decisions they make as far as how they spend the tax dollars they’ve all promised to be good stewards of.
They tell us we’re $400 million short of being able to balance the budget. It’s a crisis they say. Yeah it probably is too. You don’t think it has anything to do with the wasteful spending they’ve done in past years, do you? Of course not. We’ve already cut government expenses to the bone.
How vital was it to dump $300 million into the bottomless pit otherwise known as our State Capital Building right here in Topeka when most of us in the private sector are doing our best just to put food on the table and keep the lights on.
Locally, our know it all, Topeka City Council, in all their collective, infinite wisdom told us the City’s broke and the only way we can have decent streets to drive on is to approve a tax increase. Okay, enough of us fell for it and voted to give them just what they asked for.
Yeah, the City’s broke alright. So broke that they approved some of the most ridiculously, expensive projects I’ve ever heard of in the middle of a recession. Yeah, we really “needed” to spend $1.2 million dollars to replace the cart paths at the Topeka Public Golf Course. There must be an overwhelming “need” to have a new building at Gage Park’s Helen Hocker Theater. I mean, the need must be huge if we’re willing to put up $853,000 dollars to build it, right? Oh yeah, let’s not forget the Landon Trail. They approved an additional $145,000 dollars to extend it. What a crock.
Oh yeah, how about those poor ol’ school districts out there. They’re just barely getting by, right? That’s another crock and those of us who pay attention, know it too.
Tell me, what’d they do with the $700 million the Supreme Court handed them a few years ago. How many new gyms did they build? How many new band and football uniforms did that money buy? How many new football and soccer fields have we paid for? What about baseball diamonds? And once you build all these impressive facilities, you simply have to have new stadiums to go along with them, right? Whatever!
I was working in Hays a couple of weeks ago. And it just so happened they were hosting a big wrestling tournament. Schools were in town from all over western Kansas. Nothing wrong with that. But you should have seen what they were driving. Parking lots all over town were loaded with top of the line, School District, Chevy Suburbans and Ford Expeditions.
Yeah, they’re broke alright. They’re talking about closing and consolidating schools. Talking about cutting programs and laying off teachers. But there’s no way in hell the administrators should have to travel in anything but the best.
What a crock…
Kevin McGinty
www.rm235.blogspot.com
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Beecher Island: The Conclusion...
You know, the more I learn about the Battle of Beecher Island, the more I want to talk about it. But I did promise to wrap it up within five installments and like they say, a deal’s a deal.
The rest of the story is a little sketchy. What I mean is that I’ve read several different versions of it by several different authors. So I’m just going to go with the version they inscribed on the monument in 1905. I figure if that’s the story they’re sticking to, it’s good enough for me.
Lieutenant, Forsyth knew if they were going to survive he’d have to send for help. On the first night, J.S. Stillwell and P. Trudeau escaped by crawling past the Indian’s lines on their hands and knees. Their assignment was to reach Fort Wallace, some 60 miles to the southeast any way they could and send help.
Because of all the Indians in the area, Stillwell and Trudeau were forced to travel by night and spend their days in hiding. On the 5th day, they flagged down a stagecoach and rode it the rest of the way to Fort Wallace.
On the third night, Forsyth sent two more men named, J. Donovan, and A.G. Pilley in the direction of Fort Donovan. They followed the south fork of the Republican River and eventually reached Fort Donovan, but because the soldiers were out in the field, the place was mostly deserted. They were able to round up four men and immediately headed back toward Beecher Island. Finally, once they had gotten within about twenty miles from the island, they ran across Captain Louis H. Carpenter and his Company of about 60 “Buffalo Soldiers,” who were out on patrol. Captain Louis was a good friend of Forsyth’s from the Civil War, and as soon as the two scouts told him of their situation, Donovan and Pilley led them on a twenty mile, mad dash.
Meanwhile, back on the island, Forsyth and his men’s situation was getting desperate. The only food they had was the putrid, rotting meat of their dead horses. The injuries of the wounded had become infected and many of them were literally on the verge of dying. They had no way knowing whether the two teams they’d sent for help even got past the Indians, let alone whether or not they were coming back.
Finally, at 10:00 AM on the ninth day (September 26th, 1868) since their ordeal began, the men trapped on the island saw movement on the prairie. Within an hour they could see it was a Cavalry unit coming their way. The Indians were also watching this movement. They knew they had failed to starve the white men to death like they wanted and reluctantly decided to move on.
Captain Louis and his Buffalo Soldiers fed the men who were able to eat and began trying to stabilize the wounded as best they could. One scout’s injuries were so severe, Captain Louis’ surgeon decided the only way to save the man’s life was to amputate his left leg.
You need understand just how brutal this had to have been. It’s not like they had a clean, sterilized operating room to work in. It took place on a filthy sand bar in the middle of a river, surrounded by the stench of fifty dead and rotting horses that were laying everywhere. Somehow, civilian scout, Lewis Farley lived through the surgery but didn’t make it through the night. A few hours before sunrise on the morning of the 27th, he became the fifth and final casualty in the battle of Beecher Island.
About noon the next day, a full twenty-six hours after Captain Louis and his Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Donovan arrived, civilian scouts, Stillwell and Trudeau arrived with help from Fort Wallace in Kansas. To say they were relieved to find that help had already arrived would be an understatement. The rescue they had planned had turned into an evacuation and they loaded the weak and wounded into Government wagons for the two day trip back to Fort Wallace.
Today, one hundred-forty-one-years later, you can safely stand on the exact spot the island was. You can see the ravine, Roman Nose led his attacks from. And you can walk a mile long trail around the battle field. The first stop on the trail is a memorial dedicated to one of the bravest Cheyenne warriors who ever lived, Roman Nose on top of the hill he led his last charge from. It’s a very moving experience. Anyway, it was for me.
It was pointed out to me that this whole thing didn’t happen along the Republican River after all. So for a point of clarification, it took place on a the Arickaree Fork of the Republican River. Hope that helps clear things up.
It was suggested in an e-mail that I provide references to back up my story. Fair enough. Just do like I did before I even took the trip. Google it. It’s as simple as that.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the story about The Battle of Beecher Island as much as I’ve enjoyed telling it and I also hope one day you get the chance to take a road trip to Wray Colorado to see it for yourself.
Talk to you guys later…
Kevin McGinty
The rest of the story is a little sketchy. What I mean is that I’ve read several different versions of it by several different authors. So I’m just going to go with the version they inscribed on the monument in 1905. I figure if that’s the story they’re sticking to, it’s good enough for me.
Lieutenant, Forsyth knew if they were going to survive he’d have to send for help. On the first night, J.S. Stillwell and P. Trudeau escaped by crawling past the Indian’s lines on their hands and knees. Their assignment was to reach Fort Wallace, some 60 miles to the southeast any way they could and send help.
Because of all the Indians in the area, Stillwell and Trudeau were forced to travel by night and spend their days in hiding. On the 5th day, they flagged down a stagecoach and rode it the rest of the way to Fort Wallace.
On the third night, Forsyth sent two more men named, J. Donovan, and A.G. Pilley in the direction of Fort Donovan. They followed the south fork of the Republican River and eventually reached Fort Donovan, but because the soldiers were out in the field, the place was mostly deserted. They were able to round up four men and immediately headed back toward Beecher Island. Finally, once they had gotten within about twenty miles from the island, they ran across Captain Louis H. Carpenter and his Company of about 60 “Buffalo Soldiers,” who were out on patrol. Captain Louis was a good friend of Forsyth’s from the Civil War, and as soon as the two scouts told him of their situation, Donovan and Pilley led them on a twenty mile, mad dash.
Meanwhile, back on the island, Forsyth and his men’s situation was getting desperate. The only food they had was the putrid, rotting meat of their dead horses. The injuries of the wounded had become infected and many of them were literally on the verge of dying. They had no way knowing whether the two teams they’d sent for help even got past the Indians, let alone whether or not they were coming back.
Finally, at 10:00 AM on the ninth day (September 26th, 1868) since their ordeal began, the men trapped on the island saw movement on the prairie. Within an hour they could see it was a Cavalry unit coming their way. The Indians were also watching this movement. They knew they had failed to starve the white men to death like they wanted and reluctantly decided to move on.
Captain Louis and his Buffalo Soldiers fed the men who were able to eat and began trying to stabilize the wounded as best they could. One scout’s injuries were so severe, Captain Louis’ surgeon decided the only way to save the man’s life was to amputate his left leg.
You need understand just how brutal this had to have been. It’s not like they had a clean, sterilized operating room to work in. It took place on a filthy sand bar in the middle of a river, surrounded by the stench of fifty dead and rotting horses that were laying everywhere. Somehow, civilian scout, Lewis Farley lived through the surgery but didn’t make it through the night. A few hours before sunrise on the morning of the 27th, he became the fifth and final casualty in the battle of Beecher Island.
About noon the next day, a full twenty-six hours after Captain Louis and his Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Donovan arrived, civilian scouts, Stillwell and Trudeau arrived with help from Fort Wallace in Kansas. To say they were relieved to find that help had already arrived would be an understatement. The rescue they had planned had turned into an evacuation and they loaded the weak and wounded into Government wagons for the two day trip back to Fort Wallace.
Today, one hundred-forty-one-years later, you can safely stand on the exact spot the island was. You can see the ravine, Roman Nose led his attacks from. And you can walk a mile long trail around the battle field. The first stop on the trail is a memorial dedicated to one of the bravest Cheyenne warriors who ever lived, Roman Nose on top of the hill he led his last charge from. It’s a very moving experience. Anyway, it was for me.
It was pointed out to me that this whole thing didn’t happen along the Republican River after all. So for a point of clarification, it took place on a the Arickaree Fork of the Republican River. Hope that helps clear things up.
It was suggested in an e-mail that I provide references to back up my story. Fair enough. Just do like I did before I even took the trip. Google it. It’s as simple as that.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the story about The Battle of Beecher Island as much as I’ve enjoyed telling it and I also hope one day you get the chance to take a road trip to Wray Colorado to see it for yourself.
Talk to you guys later…
Kevin McGinty
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Beecher Island: Part Four...
Let’s see now, where were we? Oh yeah, the last time we talked, Lieutenant Forsyth and his fifty-one scouts had barricaded themselves on a small sand bar (Beecher Island) in the middle of the Republican River. They had survived the initial attack with only two casualties. Second in command, Lt. Beecher and civilian scout, George W. Culver had both been killed. Lt. Forsyth had been shot in the leg, and acting surgeon, Dr. JH Moores had been shot in the head, but for some reason or another, was still alive. They were now bracing themselves for an all out assault on their position from a band of approximately 300 Indian warriors led by the well known, Cheyenne Warrior, Roman Nose.
Because of the way the ravine Roman Nose had decided to attack from was situated, the men could hear the Indians coming before they ever saw them. Forsyth shouted out a few last minute orders. He told them this was it, there was no more time to prepare. He directed them to look out for one another, to hold their fire until the Indians reached the edge of the river, and to make every shot count. It probably wasn’t politically correct, but he also told them he’d personally kill any man who tried to desert his post.
The attack was classic, Roman Nose. There he was, fearless, and like always, front and center. But because of the narrow ravine he had chosen to attack from he and his men had become easy targets for Forsyth and his men.
As they emerged, the Indians were only two or three abreast and with the new Spencer Seven-Shooter, one after another fell. The attacks came wave after wave and the results were all pretty much the same. Every Indian who came within range was met with another, deadly accurate bullet.
Roman Nose called off the attack long enough to regroup. It was decided they’d break up into several smaller groups and try to surround the men on the sand bar. Who knows, maybe if they’d tried this tactic from the beginning, things would have turned out different.
Roman Nose led his group from the top of a hill just west of Forsyth’s position. By now he was full of rage. He was driven by his hatred of the white man and had become frustrated by his inability to slaughter this small group of men. Maybe he had become careless by making himself such an easy target. But this would be Roman Nose’s last fight.
As he reached the river’s edge, Roman Nose was met with a fatal shot. He struggled to stay on his horse for a while. But finally, death overtook him and he fell where he was. His death had an immediate, demoralizing effect on the warriors and the attack was called off.
Because of a good, last minute plan, and superior fire power, Forsyth and his men had won the battle against what seemed like impossible odds.
But it wasn’t over. The battle had now become a siege. The Indians decided if they couldn’t beat the white men in this battle, they’d keep them pinned down on their sand bar and simply starve them to death. And so it began.
Once it became clear the battle was over Forsyth and his men slowly crawled out of their holes in the sand to take stock of themselves and of each other. They had lost two more men in the battle. Civilian Scouts, William Nelson and Lewis Farley had both been killed. When they went to check on the surgeon, DH Moorse, they discovered he had also died of the gun shot wound to the head he had suffered earlier in the day. On top of all that, there were 18 more men wounded, some of them critically.
All the food and medical supplies the men had were loaded on the four pack-mules they brought with them. All four mules had been killed and were laying some hundred yards to the north of their position. They might as well have been on the moon. There was no way the Indians were going to allow the men to retrieve any of their supplies. They tended to the wounded as best as they could and tried not to think about having no food.
As night fell, they buried their dead on the battlefield and Forsyth explained their situation to his men. He told them it looked like the Indians intended to starve them out and asked for volunteers to break through the Indian‘s lines and head some sixty miles away to Fort Wallace for help. Four men stepped forward.
Kevin McGinty
Because of the way the ravine Roman Nose had decided to attack from was situated, the men could hear the Indians coming before they ever saw them. Forsyth shouted out a few last minute orders. He told them this was it, there was no more time to prepare. He directed them to look out for one another, to hold their fire until the Indians reached the edge of the river, and to make every shot count. It probably wasn’t politically correct, but he also told them he’d personally kill any man who tried to desert his post.
The attack was classic, Roman Nose. There he was, fearless, and like always, front and center. But because of the narrow ravine he had chosen to attack from he and his men had become easy targets for Forsyth and his men.
As they emerged, the Indians were only two or three abreast and with the new Spencer Seven-Shooter, one after another fell. The attacks came wave after wave and the results were all pretty much the same. Every Indian who came within range was met with another, deadly accurate bullet.
Roman Nose called off the attack long enough to regroup. It was decided they’d break up into several smaller groups and try to surround the men on the sand bar. Who knows, maybe if they’d tried this tactic from the beginning, things would have turned out different.
Roman Nose led his group from the top of a hill just west of Forsyth’s position. By now he was full of rage. He was driven by his hatred of the white man and had become frustrated by his inability to slaughter this small group of men. Maybe he had become careless by making himself such an easy target. But this would be Roman Nose’s last fight.
As he reached the river’s edge, Roman Nose was met with a fatal shot. He struggled to stay on his horse for a while. But finally, death overtook him and he fell where he was. His death had an immediate, demoralizing effect on the warriors and the attack was called off.
Because of a good, last minute plan, and superior fire power, Forsyth and his men had won the battle against what seemed like impossible odds.
But it wasn’t over. The battle had now become a siege. The Indians decided if they couldn’t beat the white men in this battle, they’d keep them pinned down on their sand bar and simply starve them to death. And so it began.
Once it became clear the battle was over Forsyth and his men slowly crawled out of their holes in the sand to take stock of themselves and of each other. They had lost two more men in the battle. Civilian Scouts, William Nelson and Lewis Farley had both been killed. When they went to check on the surgeon, DH Moorse, they discovered he had also died of the gun shot wound to the head he had suffered earlier in the day. On top of all that, there were 18 more men wounded, some of them critically.
All the food and medical supplies the men had were loaded on the four pack-mules they brought with them. All four mules had been killed and were laying some hundred yards to the north of their position. They might as well have been on the moon. There was no way the Indians were going to allow the men to retrieve any of their supplies. They tended to the wounded as best as they could and tried not to think about having no food.
As night fell, they buried their dead on the battlefield and Forsyth explained their situation to his men. He told them it looked like the Indians intended to starve them out and asked for volunteers to break through the Indian‘s lines and head some sixty miles away to Fort Wallace for help. Four men stepped forward.
Kevin McGinty
Beecher Island: Part Three...
Satisfied that he’d made all the preparations he could, Forsyth retreated to the tent he shared with his second in command, Lt. Beecher. They talked about the fight they were about to take on and they talked about their families and made other small talk. The fact they were going up against the fearsome warrior, Roman Nose seemed to bother both men but neither of them really wanted to talk about it.
They knew they were outnumbered and the only real chance they had was to try to catch the enemy off guard by attacking them while they were still asleep. The plan was to hit them at 4:00 the next morning.
What they didn’t know, was that they had been lured into a trap. The 150 Cheyenne warriors they had followed to this place in the middle of nowhere had been joined overnight by warriors of the Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, and the Ogala Souix tribes, making them a combined force of somewhere between 750 and 1000 strong.
It was still a couple hours before sunrise on the morning of Sept. 17, 1868, the men were breaking camp, saddling up their horses, and making final preparations for the battle that lie ahead when out of nowhere, came the first rifle shot from one of the sentries posted on the hills surrounding the camp.
Eight or nine warriors had snuck past the sentry’s position and into camp in an effort to stampede the men’s horses and leave Forsyth and his men stranded on foot and making them easy targets. Once it became clear that wasn’t going to work, the warriors disappeared back into the night just as fast as they had appeared.
Forsyth knew he had lost the chance of a surprise attack and need time to consider his next move.
It was quiet for the next hour or so. Then just as the sun started to rise, shots rang out from the rest of the sentries. The men came riding into camp as fast as their horses could take them to report they were being surrounded on all sides by more hostile Indians than they’d ever seen at one time.
In no time at all, it became apparent just how much trouble they were in. The Indians had started to crest the hills overlooking the camp. They were lined up on both sides of the river as far as the eye could see.
Forsyth knew if he and his men were going to have any chance of surviving they had to find some kind of cover, and quick. He ordered them to retreat to a small sandbar (island) in the middle of the river about a hundred yards just south of their position. It was a pretty good size sandbar with one lone Cottonwood tree and a large growth of Willows growing around it. It wasn’t much, but he knew it was the only chance they had.
They made a mad dash toward the island. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds either. The river back then was a lot wider and deeper than it is today. There were parts where the water came up to the men’s chests but they all made it.
Just as they made it to the island, the Indians started their attack. It was vicious. The air was filled with hot lead and arrows and it didn’t let up. Right off the bat, Forsyth was shot in the leg, and his second in command, Lieutenant Fredrick H. Beecher was killed. Most of the horses were killed and fell where they stood. Struggling to stay alert, Forsyth ordered his men to use the dead horses for cover and to start digging holes in the soft sand (foxholes) with their tin plates, rifle butts, or their bare hands.
The plan worked, and after an hour the Indians became frustrated and called off the initial attack and retreated back over the hills they had come from to regroup. The men on the sandbar realized they were getting good cover and used this time to re-enforce their holes in the sand and to tend to the wounded the best they could. Lt. Forsyth used the time to dig out the lead ball that been buried deep in his thigh.
It was somewhere around noon that day when Forsyth and his men watched as the Indians gathered again. They knew they were making plans for another attack. They also noticed that in the middle of the gathering was a big, tall Indian who seemed to be doing most of the talking. They knew at once it was none other than Roman Nose himself.
They didn’t have to wait long for the plan to unfold. Roman Nose led a party of about three hundred warriors in a direct assault on their position from a small ravine to the west, as the rest of their war party tried to sneak in from both sides of the river using the tall grass for cover.
What Roman Nose and his warriors didn’t know, was that Forsyth and his men were all armed with a new type of rifle, the .56 Cal. Spencer Seven-Shooter. The Indians were well aware of the damage a single shot rifle was capable of but this was the first time they’d ever came up against a repeating rifle. To say the least, the results were devastating.
Kevin McGinty
They knew they were outnumbered and the only real chance they had was to try to catch the enemy off guard by attacking them while they were still asleep. The plan was to hit them at 4:00 the next morning.
What they didn’t know, was that they had been lured into a trap. The 150 Cheyenne warriors they had followed to this place in the middle of nowhere had been joined overnight by warriors of the Northern Cheyenne, Arapaho, and the Ogala Souix tribes, making them a combined force of somewhere between 750 and 1000 strong.
It was still a couple hours before sunrise on the morning of Sept. 17, 1868, the men were breaking camp, saddling up their horses, and making final preparations for the battle that lie ahead when out of nowhere, came the first rifle shot from one of the sentries posted on the hills surrounding the camp.
Eight or nine warriors had snuck past the sentry’s position and into camp in an effort to stampede the men’s horses and leave Forsyth and his men stranded on foot and making them easy targets. Once it became clear that wasn’t going to work, the warriors disappeared back into the night just as fast as they had appeared.
Forsyth knew he had lost the chance of a surprise attack and need time to consider his next move.
It was quiet for the next hour or so. Then just as the sun started to rise, shots rang out from the rest of the sentries. The men came riding into camp as fast as their horses could take them to report they were being surrounded on all sides by more hostile Indians than they’d ever seen at one time.
In no time at all, it became apparent just how much trouble they were in. The Indians had started to crest the hills overlooking the camp. They were lined up on both sides of the river as far as the eye could see.
Forsyth knew if he and his men were going to have any chance of surviving they had to find some kind of cover, and quick. He ordered them to retreat to a small sandbar (island) in the middle of the river about a hundred yards just south of their position. It was a pretty good size sandbar with one lone Cottonwood tree and a large growth of Willows growing around it. It wasn’t much, but he knew it was the only chance they had.
They made a mad dash toward the island. It wasn’t as easy as it sounds either. The river back then was a lot wider and deeper than it is today. There were parts where the water came up to the men’s chests but they all made it.
Just as they made it to the island, the Indians started their attack. It was vicious. The air was filled with hot lead and arrows and it didn’t let up. Right off the bat, Forsyth was shot in the leg, and his second in command, Lieutenant Fredrick H. Beecher was killed. Most of the horses were killed and fell where they stood. Struggling to stay alert, Forsyth ordered his men to use the dead horses for cover and to start digging holes in the soft sand (foxholes) with their tin plates, rifle butts, or their bare hands.
The plan worked, and after an hour the Indians became frustrated and called off the initial attack and retreated back over the hills they had come from to regroup. The men on the sandbar realized they were getting good cover and used this time to re-enforce their holes in the sand and to tend to the wounded the best they could. Lt. Forsyth used the time to dig out the lead ball that been buried deep in his thigh.
It was somewhere around noon that day when Forsyth and his men watched as the Indians gathered again. They knew they were making plans for another attack. They also noticed that in the middle of the gathering was a big, tall Indian who seemed to be doing most of the talking. They knew at once it was none other than Roman Nose himself.
They didn’t have to wait long for the plan to unfold. Roman Nose led a party of about three hundred warriors in a direct assault on their position from a small ravine to the west, as the rest of their war party tried to sneak in from both sides of the river using the tall grass for cover.
What Roman Nose and his warriors didn’t know, was that Forsyth and his men were all armed with a new type of rifle, the .56 Cal. Spencer Seven-Shooter. The Indians were well aware of the damage a single shot rifle was capable of but this was the first time they’d ever came up against a repeating rifle. To say the least, the results were devastating.
Kevin McGinty
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Beecher Island: Part Two...
Let’s see now, where were we? Oh yeah, we were talking about a battle site in northeastern Colorado called Beecher Island I visited a while back.
We talked about Lieutenant Forsyth leading a group of fifty-one men in search of a band renegade Indians. Forsyth and his men had caught up the Indians they had been pursuing on the afternoon of September 17th, 1868 just west of Fort Wallace, which was located in the westernmost part of the Kansas territory. In order to rest his men, Forsyth ordered them to make camp in a small valley along the Republican River early that evening, and Forsyth and his second in command, Lieutenant Fredrick H. Beecher had retreated to their tent to plan their next move and to await their date with destiny.
Alright then, today we’re going to talk about one of the main players they were going up against, Cheyenne Chief, Roman Nose.
First off, the white’s had his name wrong. He was given the Indian name by his people, Woqini, (Arched Nose or Hooked Nose.) It was the white’s who interpreted it as Roman Nose. Anyway, the name stuck. He was a giant of a man, he stood well over six feet tall, and was an imposing figure on the battlefield who literally struck fear into the hearts of his enemies with his straight, in your face style of battle. He conducted himself in battle to such a high degree that the Generals in the U.S. military considered him the Chief of the entire Cheyenne nation.
Contrary to popular belief, Roman Nose never was a Chief, a dog soldier, or the leader of any of the Cheyenne military societies. He was however, known to all as one of the greatest Cheyenne warriors to ever live and the greatest leader during any and all combat situations.
Roman Nose was driven by his hatred of the white man, and the U.S. Government in particular for breaking the treaties they had signed with his people in the mid-1860’s. Following the Sand Creek Massacre on November 29th, 1864 where some four hundred Indians, mostly older men, women, and children were brutally slaughtered by a group of renegade, U.S. soldiers led by Colonel John Chivington, Roman Nose began his retaliatory attacks against any white settlements he came across along the Platte valley of southwestern Nebraska, western Kansas, and eastern Colorado. Native American author and physician, Charles Eastman, once wrote of Roman Nose, “Perhaps no other warrior attacked more emigrants along the Oregon Trail between 1864 and 1868.”
Some spoke of him as being arrogant and flamboyant. Other’s described him as simply brutal in nature. In April, 1867 General Winfield Hancock sent word to the Cheyenne that he wanted to talk. They sent Roman Nose to Fort Larned to conduct the talks with the white General. Roman Nose arrived at this meeting wearing the uniform of a General in the U.S. military. He had a Spencer carbine rifle hanging from his saddle, four Navy revolvers stuck in his belt, a knife strapped to both of his legs, and a bow, already strung with arrows in his left hand. He started the talks with a simple demand, “talk.” The General knew right then, Roman Nose wouldn’t be intimidated and it didn’t matter to him one way or the other whether they talked or they fought.
Meanwhile, back at their campsite along the Republican River, Lieutenant Forsyth was well aware of the stories surrounding, Roman Nose. He was also aware of the fact that, Roman Nose was among the War Party they were planning to engage in the morning.
About an hour after they had eaten, Forsyth gathered his men to inform them of their situation. The forward scouts had just returned and reported seeing as many as 150 Indian warriors camped in a ravine about a half a mile west of their position. He explained to them they were probably going to be outnumbered by at least three to one. With that in mind his plan was to catch them off guard while they were still sleeping. He told his men to have their horses saddled and to be ready to head out by 4:00 the next morning. He told them to make sure their guns were in good working order and to get as much rest as they could.
He rode out to visit with the sentries he had posted along the hills surrounding their camp to make sure they understood what their job was. He instructed each man to fire a single shot if he saw or heard any kind of movement. He stressed that he only wanted the shot to come from the direction of that movement. In case of a surprise attack, he wanted to be able to tell exactly where it was coming from. He reminded them that the lives of every single member of their party depended on them, and one by one, he asked each of them if they were still up to it. He reminded them they had all volunteered for this job but told them if they wanted to back out he would understand and wouldn’t think any less of them because of it. Every one of them had their own reasons but they all agreed to stay and fight.
As Forsyth rode back to camp he thought of the battle that lay ahead. He thought of other battles he‘d been involved in over the years. He had been outnumbered before and had always been able to prevail. He was sure he had chosen good men who be counted on and they were very well armed. Still, he had a bad feeling about this one.
Kevin McGinty
We talked about Lieutenant Forsyth leading a group of fifty-one men in search of a band renegade Indians. Forsyth and his men had caught up the Indians they had been pursuing on the afternoon of September 17th, 1868 just west of Fort Wallace, which was located in the westernmost part of the Kansas territory. In order to rest his men, Forsyth ordered them to make camp in a small valley along the Republican River early that evening, and Forsyth and his second in command, Lieutenant Fredrick H. Beecher had retreated to their tent to plan their next move and to await their date with destiny.
Alright then, today we’re going to talk about one of the main players they were going up against, Cheyenne Chief, Roman Nose.
First off, the white’s had his name wrong. He was given the Indian name by his people, Woqini, (Arched Nose or Hooked Nose.) It was the white’s who interpreted it as Roman Nose. Anyway, the name stuck. He was a giant of a man, he stood well over six feet tall, and was an imposing figure on the battlefield who literally struck fear into the hearts of his enemies with his straight, in your face style of battle. He conducted himself in battle to such a high degree that the Generals in the U.S. military considered him the Chief of the entire Cheyenne nation.
Contrary to popular belief, Roman Nose never was a Chief, a dog soldier, or the leader of any of the Cheyenne military societies. He was however, known to all as one of the greatest Cheyenne warriors to ever live and the greatest leader during any and all combat situations.
Roman Nose was driven by his hatred of the white man, and the U.S. Government in particular for breaking the treaties they had signed with his people in the mid-1860’s. Following the Sand Creek Massacre on November 29th, 1864 where some four hundred Indians, mostly older men, women, and children were brutally slaughtered by a group of renegade, U.S. soldiers led by Colonel John Chivington, Roman Nose began his retaliatory attacks against any white settlements he came across along the Platte valley of southwestern Nebraska, western Kansas, and eastern Colorado. Native American author and physician, Charles Eastman, once wrote of Roman Nose, “Perhaps no other warrior attacked more emigrants along the Oregon Trail between 1864 and 1868.”
Some spoke of him as being arrogant and flamboyant. Other’s described him as simply brutal in nature. In April, 1867 General Winfield Hancock sent word to the Cheyenne that he wanted to talk. They sent Roman Nose to Fort Larned to conduct the talks with the white General. Roman Nose arrived at this meeting wearing the uniform of a General in the U.S. military. He had a Spencer carbine rifle hanging from his saddle, four Navy revolvers stuck in his belt, a knife strapped to both of his legs, and a bow, already strung with arrows in his left hand. He started the talks with a simple demand, “talk.” The General knew right then, Roman Nose wouldn’t be intimidated and it didn’t matter to him one way or the other whether they talked or they fought.
Meanwhile, back at their campsite along the Republican River, Lieutenant Forsyth was well aware of the stories surrounding, Roman Nose. He was also aware of the fact that, Roman Nose was among the War Party they were planning to engage in the morning.
About an hour after they had eaten, Forsyth gathered his men to inform them of their situation. The forward scouts had just returned and reported seeing as many as 150 Indian warriors camped in a ravine about a half a mile west of their position. He explained to them they were probably going to be outnumbered by at least three to one. With that in mind his plan was to catch them off guard while they were still sleeping. He told his men to have their horses saddled and to be ready to head out by 4:00 the next morning. He told them to make sure their guns were in good working order and to get as much rest as they could.
He rode out to visit with the sentries he had posted along the hills surrounding their camp to make sure they understood what their job was. He instructed each man to fire a single shot if he saw or heard any kind of movement. He stressed that he only wanted the shot to come from the direction of that movement. In case of a surprise attack, he wanted to be able to tell exactly where it was coming from. He reminded them that the lives of every single member of their party depended on them, and one by one, he asked each of them if they were still up to it. He reminded them they had all volunteered for this job but told them if they wanted to back out he would understand and wouldn’t think any less of them because of it. Every one of them had their own reasons but they all agreed to stay and fight.
As Forsyth rode back to camp he thought of the battle that lay ahead. He thought of other battles he‘d been involved in over the years. He had been outnumbered before and had always been able to prevail. He was sure he had chosen good men who be counted on and they were very well armed. Still, he had a bad feeling about this one.
Kevin McGinty
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Solo Expedition...
I haven't really talked about it much but every other weekend I usually head out by myself. It's usually the day I seek out new fis...
